Bill Summary
The "Spent Petroleum Catalyst Recycling and Critical Minerals and Metals Recovery Exemption Act" is a legislative proposal aimed at enhancing the domestic supply of vanadium, a critical mineral essential for various industries, including steel manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, and defense. The bill highlights the importance of reducing reliance on foreign sources of vanadium, particularly from countries like China and Russia, due to national security concerns.
Key provisions of the legislation include:
1. **Recycling Framework**: The bill emphasizes that vanadium can be effectively recovered from spent petroleum catalysts through legitimate recycling processes, which should not be classified as solid waste under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. This is crucial for promoting domestic metal recovery operations.
2. **Regulatory Exemptions**: It calls for revisions to existing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to exempt facilities that recycle spent petroleum catalysts for metals recovery from certain waste management requirements, thereby reducing regulatory burdens while ensuring environmental safeguards are maintained.
3. **Clarification of Processes**: The legislation outlines specific processes for the recovery of vanadium and other metals, including de-oiling, thermal treatment, and metallurgical processes, which can occur at different facilities but still qualify for exemptions.
4. **Immediate Implementation**: The bill mandates that the EPA take swift action to establish these regulatory changes, bypassing typical notice and comment procedures to expedite the process.
Overall, the act aims to support the recovery of critical minerals domestically and ensure a resilient supply chain for U.S. industries while fostering environmentally friendly recycling practices.
Possible Impacts
Here are three examples of how the legislation described could affect people:
1. **Economic Opportunities in Domestic Manufacturing**: By promoting the domestic recovery of vanadium from spent petroleum catalysts, this legislation could create new job opportunities in industries related to recycling and metal recovery. Workers in manufacturing and refining sectors may benefit from increased job security and potential growth, particularly in regions where oil refineries and recycling facilities are located. This could lead to a boost in local economies and less reliance on foreign sources for critical minerals.
2. **Environmental Impact and Public Health**: The legislation emphasizes recycling spent petroleum catalysts, which may reduce environmental pollution associated with traditional waste disposal methods. By clarifying the regulations around hazardous waste, the bill seeks to encourage environmentally safe practices, potentially leading to cleaner air and reduced hazardous waste in landfills. This could contribute positively to public health outcomes for communities near recycling facilities and oil refineries.
3. **National Security and Economic Resilience**: The act aims to minimize dependence on foreign sources of critical minerals, particularly from geopolitical rivals. By ensuring a stable domestic supply of vanadium for essential industries such as defense and infrastructure, the legislation could enhance national security. This could also lead to a more resilient economy by protecting against supply chain disruptions that could arise from international conflicts or trade issues, ultimately benefiting consumers by stabilizing prices and availability of critical products.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7523 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7523
To ensure domestic sources of the critical mineral vanadium necessary
for the steel, infrastructure, energy, and defense needs of the United
States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 12, 2026
Mr. Balderson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure domestic sources of the critical mineral vanadium necessary
for the steel, infrastructure, energy, and defense needs of the United
States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Spent Petroleum Catalyst Recycling
and Critical Minerals and Metals Recovery Exemption Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In accordance with Executive Order 14272 (90 Fed. Reg.
16437; relating to ensuring national security and economic
resilience through section 232 actions on processed critical
minerals and derivative products), it is vital to maintain a
supply of critical minerals for the domestic manufacturing and
defense industries to protect the United States from strategic
supply-chain threats of foreign economic and military enemies,
such as China and Russia. Vanadium, a critical mineral, can be
obtained domestically from recycling spent petroleum catalyst
to produce ferrovanadium--a critical component in high-strength
steel used across the United States steel, defense,
infrastructure, and energy sectors--thereby reducing dependence
on foreign sources, such as China and Russia.
(2) Units that recover vanadium and other metals and
critical minerals from spent petroleum catalyst legitimately
recycle spent petroleum catalyst solely for metals recovery,
not for waste incineration or energy recovery. Those units can
include thermal treatment units (such as roasters) that recycle
spent petroleum catalyst into an intermediate product suitable
for metals recovery and metallurgical units (such as furnaces
and hydrometallurgical units) that recover the metals from
spent petroleum catalyst or intermediate products. When
legitimately recycled in that manner, spent petroleum catalyst
is eligible for exclusions from classification as a solid waste
under the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.),
such as the transfer-based exclusion under section 261.4(a)(24)
of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.
(3) The recovery of metals, including vanadium, from spent
petroleum catalyst can be a 3-step process. First, oil
refineries partially reclaim the spent petroleum catalyst
through a de-oiling process, or other process, to reduce volume
and recover hydrocarbons. Second, thermal treatment, in a unit
such as a roaster, is utilized to recycle spent petroleum
catalyst by converting vanadium, other metals, or both from
sulfides to oxides to produce an intermediate product suitable
for metals recovery. Third, a metallurgical unit such as a
furnace or hydrometallurgical unit is used to recover the
vanadium or other valuable metals using spent petroleum
catalyst or the intermediate product. Those steps do not need
to occur at the same facility.
(4) The notice of the Environmental Protection Agency
entitled ``Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification
and Listing of Hazardous Waste: Petroleum Refining Process
Wastes; Land Disposal Restrictions for Newly Identified Wastes;
and CERCLA Hazardous Substance Designation and Reportable
Quantities'' (60 Fed. Reg. 57747 (November 20, 1995)) stated
the following:
(A) De-oiling crude oil tank sediment--which
reduces waste volumes and recovers hydrocarbons--is
legitimate recycling exempt from the Solid Waste
Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), analogous to
substantial partial reclamation of spent petroleum
catalyst.
(B) Units that recover vanadium and other metals
and critical minerals from spent petroleum catalyst are
analogous to smelting, melting, and refining furnaces,
which are conditionally exempt from the Boilers and
Industrial Furnaces (referred to in this section as
``BIF'') requirements under the Solid Waste Disposal
Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) because they recover
valuable materials.
(C) Units that recover vanadium and other metals
and critical minerals from spent petroleum catalyst
process hazardous waste solely for materials recovery
as opposed to destruction or energy recovery.
(D) Units that recover vanadium and other metals
and critical minerals from spent petroleum catalyst,
which recycle spent petroleum catalyst (which is a
commodity), should be exempt under the Solid Waste
Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) to promote the
recovery of valuable materials.
(E) Units that recover vanadium and other metals
and critical minerals from spent petroleum catalyst are
already equipped with pollution controls comparable to
those required under BIF and further regulation may be
unnecessary.
(5) Permits under title V of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.
7661 et seq.) and other air permits and regulations already
enforce robust environmental safeguards, making the application
of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) BIF
requirements to units that recover vanadium and other metals
and critical minerals from spent petroleum catalyst duplicative
and unnecessary.
(6) Clarifying the regulations pursuant to section 3 will
encourage environmentally safe domestic recovery of metals and
critical minerals, including vanadium, from spent petroleum
catalyst to ensure access to an affordable, resilient, and
sustainable supply of processed critical minerals for United
States industry while avoiding unnecessary regulatory burdens,
as the Environmental Protection Agency proposed in the notice
described in paragraph (4).
SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.
(a) In General.--As soon as practicable after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
shall promulgate a final rule to revise the regulations under subtitle
C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) as follows:
(1) Revise subsections (c) and (d) of section 266.100 of
title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to expressly provide
that units reclaiming valuable metals, including critical
minerals (such as vanadium), from spent hydrotreating catalyst
(EPA Hazardous Waste No. K171) and spent hydrorefining catalyst
(EPA Hazardous Waste No. K172) from petroleum refining
operations are exempt from the Boilers and Industrial Furnaces
requirements under the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901
et seq.).
(2) Clarify that the exemption described in paragraph (1)
applies to--
(A) thermal treatment units, including roasters,
that process the spent petroleum catalyst into an
intermediate product suitable for metals reclamation;
and
(B) metallurgical units, including furnaces and
hydrometallurgical units, that reclaim metals from
spent petroleum catalyst and intermediate products.
(3) Clarify that the transfer-based exclusion under section
261.4(a)(24) of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, can be
used when spent petroleum catalyst is sent to a third party for
metals reclamation.
(b) Implementation.--
(1) Immediate effectiveness.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the final rule promulgated under subsection
(a) shall take effect on the date on which the final rule is
published in the Federal Register.
(2) Exemption.--The rulemaking required under subsection
(a) shall be carried out without regard to the notice and
comment requirements under section 553 of title 5, United
States Code.
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