The Unearth America’s Future Act establishes federal incentives, oversight, and research funding to secure and expand domestic supply chains for materials critical to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness.
Haley Stevens
Representative
MI-11
The Unearth America’s Future Act is a comprehensive legislative package designed to secure and strengthen U.S. supply chains for materials critical to national security and economic competitiveness. It achieves this through significant federal incentives, including loans and tax credits, to boost domestic and allied production capacity. The bill imposes strict labor protections, environmental standards, and robust restrictions on foreign influence for all recipients of federal support. Ultimately, this legislation aims to foster American self-sufficiency in vital materials through investment, innovation, and workforce development.
New Act Pushes $27B Into Domestic Mineral Production, Mandates Union Recognition for Loan Recipients
The aptly named Unearth America’s Future Act is a massive industrial policy bill designed to yank the critical materials supply chain—think rare earth metals for your phone, magnets for electric vehicles, and components for defense systems—back onto U.S. soil. If passed, this isn't just a tweak; it’s a full-scale federal commitment involving huge loans, major tax breaks, and strict labor rules.
The Core Mission: Building a Domestic Supply Fortress
At its heart, the bill establishes a new National Center within the Department of Commerce, charged with making the U.S. critical material supply chain secure, sustainable, and transparent (Sec. 102). This isn't just about digging stuff up; it covers the whole process: extraction, refining, conversion (turning raw materials into complex components), and recycling. The Center must work with allies, promote green practices like industrial decarbonization, and ensure strong workforce protections.
The Money Drop: $27 Billion in Loans and Guarantees
The real muscle comes from Title I, Section 103, which sets up a massive loan and loan guarantee program, authorizing up to $10 billion annually by 2030, totaling over $27 billion through 2029, to fund facilities that produce critical materials. If you’re a company looking to build a new refinery or factory in the U.S., this is your federal bank. However, the money comes with serious strings attached:
- No Foreign Entities of Concern: If your company is owned or controlled by a "foreign entity of concern" (as defined by the NDAA), you are completely ineligible for these funds (Sec. 103(b)). This is a hard line designed to cut out specific foreign competitors.
- Clawbacks for Delays: Miss your construction start or finish dates? The Secretary can progressively claw back the loan money, potentially recovering the full amount. Unless the delay is due to an unforeseen circumstance outside your control, you’re on the hook (Sec. 103(j)).
- Fast Track, Fewer Checks: Here's a crucial detail: If your facility is located inside the United States, the Secretary can skip some of the detailed environmental and labor checks required for projects located overseas (Sec. 103(d)). While this speeds things up, it raises questions about whether domestic projects will receive the same environmental scrutiny as foreign ones.
The Labor Twist: Mandatory Union Recognition
For any company receiving a loan under this program, Section 103(k) imposes a significant labor mandate that supersedes other laws. If a union shows signed authorization cards from a majority of the workers, the employer must recognize that union without the standard National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process. Furthermore, if the company and the newly recognized union can't agree on a contract within 120 days, the dispute is automatically sent to binding, tripartite arbitration. This provision dramatically changes the landscape for labor organizing within this critical industry, making federal funding contingent on accepting a specific, expedited unionization process.
Tax Breaks for Domestic Producers
Title II sweetens the deal with two major tax credits, making domestic production significantly cheaper:
- Critical Material Investment Tax Credit (Sec. 201): Companies building or equipping a critical material facility in the U.S. get an automatic 15% tax credit on their investment. This can jump to 25% if the facility meets certain high standards, like paying prevailing wages and using registered apprenticeships. This credit expires after 2029.
- Critical Material Production Tax Credit (Sec. 202): This is a per-unit credit based on the cost of production, ranging from 15% (for extraction) down to 7.5% (for materials sourced from approved allied countries). Crucially, you get a 10 percentage point bonus if you pay prevailing wages and follow apprenticeship requirements. This credit begins phasing out in 2031 and disappears in 2034.
For a small business looking to enter the recycling or refining space, these tax credits could be the difference between a viable project and one that can't compete with foreign subsidized production.
The Research Engine and the Investment Fund
Title III dedicates significant funding (up to $150 million annually through 2030) to the NSF, DOE, and NIST to boost research into new mining techniques, qualified material substitutes, and advanced recycling (Sec. 305). This is the long-game investment, ensuring the U.S. isn't just catching up but leading the next generation of material science.
Finally, the bill creates a new Material Supply Chain Public-Private Partnership with its own Investment Fund (Sec. 105). This Fund can apply for loans from the federal program and, if it stays in good standing, can have those loans forgiven. The forgiven debt is then treated as tax-exempt income. This structure essentially creates a federally backed venture capital arm for the critical material sector, giving it a huge advantage over traditional private financing.