H.R. 9616 · 119th Congress

EMRTAI Authorization Act of 2026

Introduced on Jul 9, 2026 by August Pfluger (R-TX-11). One cosponsor. Latest action (Sep 16, 2026): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Jul 9, 2026
Cosponsors
1
1 from the other party
Policy area
Energy
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To establish a program for the recovery of critical materials from contaminated sites, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
  • Environmental technology
  • Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
  • Land use and conservation
  • Strategic materials and reserves
  • Technology assessment

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Jul 9, 2026). Public domain.

Environmental Monitoring and Remediation Technology Assessment Initiative Authorization Act of 2026 or the EMRTAI Authorization Act of 2026

This provides statutory authority for an initiative within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that recovers critical materials from contaminated sites.

A critical material means (1) any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or material that the Department of Energy determines has a high risk of a supply chain disruption and serves an essential function in energy technologies; and (2) any critical mineral. A critical mineral means any mineral, element, substance, or material designated as critical by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Under the program, the EPA must investigate, evaluate, and support processes, methods, and systems which may be used to identify sources of critical materials at contaminated sites and recover such critical materials from those sites. In carrying out the program, the EPA may provide assistance (e.g., awards) to persons, nonprofit organizations, and state, local, and tribal government entities.

The bill prohibits the EPA from providing assistance (1) in an amount that exceeds $10 million in any fiscal year in the aggregate; or (2) to any person, nonprofit organization, or government entity, in an amount that exceeds $3 million.

The bill terminates the program after 10 years.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

August PflugerR-TX-11Sponsor

Democrats · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jul 9, 2026Introduced in House
  2. Jul 9, 2026Introduced in House
  3. Jul 9, 2026 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Environment.
  4. Jul 9, 2026 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
  5. Jul 14, 2026 · HouseSubcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  6. Jul 14, 2026 · HouseForwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
  7. Jul 20, 2026 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  8. Jul 21, 2026 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  9. Jul 21, 2026 · HouseOrdered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 48 - 0.
  10. Sep 14, 2026Reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-821.
  11. Sep 14, 2026 · HouseReported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-821.
  12. Sep 14, 2026 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 720.
  13. Sep 15, 2026 · HouseMr. Guthrie moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  14. Sep 15, 2026 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5682-5683)
  15. Sep 15, 2026 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 9616.
  16. Sep 15, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
  17. Sep 15, 2026 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5682)
  18. Sep 15, 2026 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  19. Sep 16, 2026 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. Americans for Prosperity1 report
    $660K reported (all issues)
  2. National Mining Association1 report
    $820K reported (all issues)
  3. Trout Unlimited1 report
    $120K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.