EPA must plan how to get valuable metals from waste

What it does

The bill tells the EPA to make a plan. The plan is for getting valuable metals from trash. Metals include lithium and cobalt. The EPA must find all programs that work on this. The EPA must figure out what stops them. The EPA must report to Congress every two years.

Who it affects

People may gain from less need to buy metals from other countries. People who work in recycling may get new jobs. The bill does not cost people money.

One thing to notice

The EPA must report every two years. Congress and the public will know what the government is doing.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.

• Jul 9, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jul 9, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
• Jul 14, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jul 21, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 47 - 0”
• Sep 15, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote”
• Sep 15, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Guthrie moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”

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

Money around this bill

1 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 1 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $660,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 66 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 0% of bills with any report.

Gary Palmer, who sponsored the bill, received $486,500 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Americans for Prosperity — $660,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• valuable metals — metals and elements that are hard to find and important for technology
• EPA — the Environmental Protection Agency, the group that protects the environment
• report to Congress — tell the lawmakers what happened and what should happen next
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.