Mining companies get massive tax breaks with no environmental strings attached

What it does

This bill expands a federal tax credit for companies that manufacture products from critical minerals (like copper, uranium, boron, and phosphate) by adding new minerals to the eligible list, allowing extraction costs to count toward the credit, and increasing the credit rate for metallurgical coal. The primary beneficiaries are mining and mineral-processing companies that can now claim larger tax deductions for extracting and refining these materials domestically.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to expand and increase tax credits for mining and mineral-processing companies. While framed as supporting 'critical minerals' and domestic production, the mechanism is a direct reduction in corporate tax liability with no public-interest conditions or revenue offsets.

What the text implies

• The bill allows extraction costs to be claimed even when ore is extracted abroad, provided it is 'not extracted in commercial quantities' in the US — a vague standard that may permit significant foreign extraction to qualify for the credit.
• No environmental remediation, reclamation, or water-protection requirements are attached to the tax credit, despite mining's well-documented ecological costs.
• The credit applies retroactively to minerals 'produced and sold after December 31, 2025,' potentially allowing companies to claim credits on sales already completed before the bill's enactment.
• The bill repeals a 2.5% reduction in the credit for metallurgical coal, effectively raising the subsidy for coal extraction — a fossil fuel — despite stated focus on 'critical minerals' for clean energy.
• No wage, labor, or domestic-job requirements are imposed as conditions for claiming the credit, meaning companies can claim full benefits while outsourcing labor or paying minimum wages.

Who it affects

The bill provides substantial tax credits to mining and mineral-processing corporations with no offsetting public revenue, no environmental safeguards, and no requirement that savings be passed to consumers. Ordinary citizens bear the cost through foregone tax revenue while corporations capture the full benefit.

Who stands to gain

• mining companies
• mineral extraction firms
• metallurgical coal producers
• phosphate mining operations
• uranium extraction companies
• copper mining operations

Named in the bill

Internal Revenue Code Section 45X, Section 10612 of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act, US mining industry, critical minerals: boron, copper, lead, metallurgical coal, potash, rhenium, silicon, silver, uraniu, IRS (Secretary of Treasury)

Where it stands

18 cosponsors: 18 Republicans.

• May 13, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• May 13, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

11 lobbying clients named this bill on 11 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $20,210,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 25 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 92% of bills with at least one filing.

Blake Moore, the sponsor, reported $1,475,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $16,950,000 on 1 filing
• National Mining Association — $820,000 on 1 filing
• U.S. Travel Association — $800,000 on 1 filing
• Information Technology Industry Council — $720,000 on 1 filing
• Semi — $470,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.