Require all AI Data Center Development to Consider Impacts on Domestic Mining

Data center development must consider the impacts on domestic mining for critical minerals and rare earth elements. Congress can add conditions to relevant federal investment or research and development mandates1 that minimize environmental harm, regional long-term economic impact, and require that local communities are included in the planning and approval of new mines.2 Existing mines should be subject to heightened environmental remediation review. Given an appropriate period of notice, the federal government can terminate existing stakes in mining companies that do not conform to the updated standards.

  1. U.S. Department of Energy, “Energy Department Announces $355 Million to Expand Domestic Production of Critical Minerals and Materials,” National Energy Technology Laboratory, November 17, 2025, https://netl.doe.gov/node/15113; USA Rare Earth, “USA Rare Earth Announces Letter of Intent with the U.S. Government for Access to $1.6 Billion in Funding to Accelerate the Domestic Heavy Rare Earth Value Chain. Concurrently, USA Rare Earth Raises $1.5 Billion in Private Sector Investment,” USA Rare Earth, January 26, 2026, https://investors.usare.com/node/8221/pdf. ↩︎
  2. Danielle Riedl, Devashree Saha and Luke Balleny, “A New Era of US Mineral Mining Must Put Communities First,” World Resources Institute, January 5, 2026, https://www.wri.org/insights/us-critical-mineral-mining-community-impacts. ↩︎