HR 9640: Earth MRI Reauthorization Act of 2026

HR 9640 in plain English: This bill reauthorizes the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI), a federal program that maps the nation's mineral and geological resources, by providing $84,000,000 in funding for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

Stated purpose

To renew and expand the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI), a federal program that collects detailed geological data about the ground beneath the U.S., including mapping critical minerals, geothermal energy, and other underground resources, through 2031.

Key points

• Reauthorizes the Earth MRI geological mapping program through fiscal year 2031
• Provides $84,000,000 in funding for the period of fiscal years 2027 through 2031

Arguments supporters make

• Mapping domestic critical mineral deposits reduces U.S. reliance on foreign sources for materials used in electronics, defense, and clean energy.
• Modern geophysical and data-driven tools will make the mapping faster and more accurate than older methods, delivering better value for the money.
• This is a bipartisan bill that simply continues and modestly updates an already-established, science-based program.

Arguments opponents make

• The $84 million reauthorization adds to federal spending without a clear accounting of what the previous funding period actually produced or whether the maps have led to real resource development.
• Expanding the program's scope to include natural hydrogen and other new resource categories may stretch the agency's focus and expertise beyond what it can effectively deliver.
• Better maps of mineral and energy resources could accelerate extraction in sensitive or protected lands, raising concerns about environmental impacts that the bill does not address.

Tradeoffs

Funding a more detailed and technologically advanced mapping program may accelerate domestic resource development and reduce import dependence, but it also requires ongoing federal spending and could increase pressure to open mapped areas to extraction, raising questions about how that tension will be managed.

Current status in Congress: In committee.

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