Government Initiatives Simplify and Accelerate Critical Minerals and Energy Infrastructure Opportunities in the United States

A recent Presidential Memorandum aims to consolidate the funding process for energy infrastructure and critical minerals projects in the United States via a "one stop shop" that would transform the way large projects seek and receive government funding.

Background

On June 30, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum entitled "Simplifying the Funding of Energy Infrastructure and Critical Mineral and Material Projects" (the "Memorandum"), kicking off a process for streamlining applications for Federal funding with respect to energy infrastructure and critical mineral and material industries, and for increasing information-sharing across agencies in support of faster funding decisions and increased government efficiency in administering these funding programs. The Memorandum mandates multiple governmental agencies to share data pertaining to their current processes for assessing applications for funding and existing funding commitments related to energy infrastructure or critical mineral- or material-related projects, and sets the stage for the development of a centralized "common application" for Federal funding opportunities for these key industries.

The Memorandum continues to display the importance the current administration appears to be placing on energy infrastructure projects and critical minerals, which follows an array of recent Executive Orders that we have discussed here. And these policy announcements are beginning to translate into practical action by federal agencies, as witnessed by the multibillion dollar, multi-stage funding commitment from the Department of Defense into MP Materials, the country's largest domestic rare earth metals refiner. Adapting the legal and regulatory framework to accelerate and consolidate the funding of ambitious projects in these critical industries has become a key national priority in the United States.

Centralizing Opportunities

The Memorandum directs the Secretaries of Treasury, Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Transportation, and Energy, along with the heads of several other government agencies, to modify their information-sharing policies and initiate appropriate rulemaking proceedings within 60 days (August 29, 2025) and to facilitate each agency to share information with the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council ("NEDC") about such agency's funding application procedures and existing funding commitments for energy infrastructure and critical mineral projects. With this information, the Chair of the NEDC and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB"), in coordination with the heads of the relevant agencies, are then required to develop a common application within 180 days (December 27, 2025) for all federal funding opportunities in the energy infrastructure and critical minerals industries, with an aim to eliminate redundant processes and improve strategic investment.

This consolidated application, if implemented, may allow for state and local governments and private developers of large infrastructure projects in these critical industries to apply for funding from multiple agencies at one time, which would fundamentally transform the way federal funding opportunities are currently organized. At the present time, each agency is largely responsible for assessing applications and administering grants and loans on an independent basis, and each agency has its own dedicated staff, internal form documentation and policy guidelines for administration. The Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office has a staff of more than 200 to evaluate loans and loan guarantees for cutting-edge energy technologies, for example, while the USDA's Rural Development program offers grants and loans for projects in rural areas from offices in 47 different states. The Department of Defense's Office of Industrial Base Policy invests millions each year in projects to bolster America's supply chain resilience, including critical investments into the mining and minerals processing industries. It is unclear exactly how the envisaged consolidated application process will operate, whether the Memorandum is intended to cover both grant and loan functions, or whether specific programs will seek exemptions for all or part of their application process on the basis that the information being assessed is confidential or sensitive information from a national security or intellectual property perspective. A fact sheet provided by the White House characterizes the NEDC's role going forward as a "coordinating function" between agencies that currently conduct "substantially the same diligence redundantly" in making their funding decisions, but does not detail whether the NEDC would independently undertake diligence workstreams or merely designate one agency to take the lead in diligence review for a project of interest (similar to the "lead agency" designation in the Fast-41 Permitting Dashboard).

If the NEDC is able to consolidate efficiently and provide for a common application that allows each agency to spend the majority of their time focusing on their unique requirements, this would markedly increase the pace at which new investments in energy infrastructure and critical minerals projects can be made and substantially decrease the burden on individual applicants. However, since the scope of the information to be shared by the individual agencies remains unclear, and NEDC has not determined exactly which funding programs will be included in the nascent common application, the devil will be in the details. In line with the overall pattern of the administration's recent actions, the Memorandum underscores that accelerating domestic infrastructure and critical minerals funding continues to be a key priority for this administration.

Mazin Elhag (Associate, White & Case, New York) contributed to the development of this publication.

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