CRITICAL Act
This bill directs the General Services Administration (GSA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of the Interior to take specified actions with respect to electronic recycling and critical mineral extraction.
Specifically, the GSA shall establish an electronic recycling program that services each executive agency.
The EPA shall (1) establish a program to ensure that electronics collected under the agency recycling program are entered into a certified recycling stream for dismantling and refining by certified entities; (2) ensure that refined critical minerals developed through the certified recycling stream program are retained in the United States for use by industry; and (3) award prizes for the development of E-waste recycling systems, with a goal of increasing the collection of recyclable electronics.
Interior shall study and report on critical mineral extraction, evaluating, among other things, the total quantity of recoverable critical minerals from all certified recycling streams, as compared to the total quantity of critical minerals necessary for manufacturing, consumer products, and national defense in the United States.