Sponsors
The bill promotes domestic recovery of vanadium and other critical minerals and lowers costs for industry, but does so by easing hazardous-waste regulatory constraints and fast-tracking rules in ways that raise environmental, public‑participation, and fiscal risk for local communities and governments.
U.S. manufacturers, utilities, and energy/steel sectors will gain increased domestic access to vanadium and other critical minerals through expanded catalyst reclamation, reducing reliance on foreign suppliers and strengthening supply-chain resilience.
Refinery operators, metal recyclers, and downstream users will see lower raw-material and compliance costs because processing spent catalysts for metal recovery is treated as recycling and not subject to BIF constraints, speeding reclamation and reducing operating costs.
State governments, operators, and investors will face less regulatory uncertainty because the bill clarifies catalyst recovery is legitimate recycling and relies on existing Title V/analogous permits rather than RCRA BIF rules, which may encourage investment in domestic recovery facilities.
Nearby and rural communities, local governments, and workers face increased risk of air, water, and workplace pollution because exempting recovery/reclamation units from RCRA/BIF requirements may reduce environmental and worker protections.
State and local regulators and communities may encounter enforcement gaps and compliance uncertainty across jurisdictions because relying on Title V and analogous controls instead of explicit RCRA exclusions can leave unclear regulatory authority and oversight.
Taxpayers, local governments, and nearby residents could bear increased cleanup costs and liability risk if excluded recycling units release contaminants that are not addressed under less-stringent oversight.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Jon Husted · Last progress February 12, 2026
Directs the EPA to promptly issue a final rule that exempts thermal and metallurgical units that reclaim metals (including critical minerals such as vanadium) from spent petroleum hydrotreating and hydrorefining catalysts from Boilers and Industrial Furnaces hazardous-waste rules, and to clarify that a transfer-based exclusion may apply when catalysts are sent to third parties for reclamation. The rule must be issued “as soon as practicable,” takes effect on its Federal Register publication date, and is exempted from the Administrative Procedure Act notice-and-comment process. The legislation aims to encourage domestic recovery of critical minerals from refinery spent catalysts by removing certain regulatory barriers and by clarifying which reclamation steps qualify as legitimate recycling rather than solid-waste combustion; it relies on existing air permits and pollution controls for environmental safeguards, but bypassing public notice-and-comment and narrowing hazardous-waste coverage may raise concerns about oversight and emissions monitoring.