This bill, titled the "Unearth America's Future Act," seeks to bolster the United States' national, energy, and economic security by strengthening its critical material supply chain. It establishes a comprehensive framework across three main titles: resilient expansion of strategic industries, critical material tax credits, and critical material research and development.

Title I creates a National Center for Secure and Transparent Critical Material Supply Chains within the Department of Commerce to advance policy, best practices, and sustainability. It also establishes a significant loan program, authorized for up to $10 billion annually by 2030, to support covered entities in acquiring, establishing, or enhancing facilities for critical material manufacturing, both domestically and in allied countries. Eligibility for these loans includes strict criteria to prevent involvement with foreign entities of concern and mandates adherence to strong labor protections, including Davis-Bacon wage rates and collective bargaining provisions.

Furthermore, Title I mandates collaboration among various federal agencies and establishes a Public-Private Partnership and an Investment Fund. This partnership will engage stakeholders, advise the Center, and operate the Investment Fund to support critical material manufacturing, stabilize market prices, and invest in innovative technologies, while also adhering to strict anti-foreign-entity-of-concern rules and labor standards.

Title II introduces two new tax credits to incentivize domestic critical material activities. The Critical Material Investment Tax Credit offers up to 25 percent for qualified investments in facilities for extraction, processing, refining, recycling, or converting critical materials, with higher rates for facilities meeting certain labor standards or producing vulnerable materials. The Critical Material Production Tax Credit provides varying credit amounts based on the stage of production and sourcing, with an increase for meeting labor standards or producing vulnerable materials, qualified substitutes, or recycled materials.

Title III focuses on research, development, and demonstration activities. It clarifies and expands critical materials mining research at the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, promoting innovative technologies for more efficient, economical, and environmentally benign mining practices. The bill also authorizes the National Science Foundation to award grants for R&D in sustainable, secure, and traceable critical material supply chains, including workforce development and the establishment of testbeds for commercialization.

Finally, Title III directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to carry out a critical materials program for measurement science, technical standards, and metrology, including convening a consortium to identify future standards for advanced recycling processes. It also establishes a Department of Energy grant program for pilot projects to expand domestic critical material manufacturing capacity, with a focus on qualified substitutes, secondary recovery, and recycling, ensuring these projects do not involve foreign countries of concern.