KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Congressmen G.T. Thompson, Dan Meuser and Rob Bresnahan, from left to right, listen and take notes during a rural opportunity roundtable at Penn College on Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, joined state Rep. Jonathan Fritz, R-Honesdale, state legislators and industry leaders Thursday for a series of facility tours and a roundtable discussion focused on positioning Pennsylvania as a national leader in the domestic production of critical minerals like lithium and rare earth elements.

The day began with site visits to two pioneering lithium extraction facilities that use produced water from the Marcellus Shale.

“The Avonlea/Kendra II facility in Springville and the Gradiant/C2G facility in Montrose showcased groundbreaking technologies that recover lithium from fracking brine — reducing environmental waste while strengthening America’s energy independence,” the news release said.

“These facilities represent the future of American energy,” said Meuser, according to the news release. “What we saw today is innovation in action — private sector ingenuity transforming waste into strategic resources. They’re proving that we don’t need to look overseas to meet our energy needs. By responsibly tapping into what’s available domestically, we can create jobs, protect the environment, and secure our national supply chain from adversaries like China.”

Following the tours, Meuser participated in a roundtable hosted by Fritz at The Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains. The discussion focused on how federal and state policymakers can work with private industry to expand critical mineral production, streamline permitting, and create rural economic opportunities.

Meuser also announced that he will soon introduce legislation to establish a production tax credit for companies extracting critical minerals — including rare earth elements from coal byproducts and lithium from fracking brine, according to the news release. These credits are aimed at unlocking overlooked domestic resources, strengthening U.S. manufacturing, and turning existing waste into valuable supply chain inputs.

“America imports nearly 90% of our critical minerals — many of them from foreign adversaries. That is unacceptable,” Meuser said. “My legislation will help reverse that dependency by turning underutilized materials like coal ash and brine water into strategic assets. It’s about pairing innovation with environmental reuse — converting industrial waste streams into sustainable inputs for clean energy, defense systems, and advanced manufacturing. … This is a win-win for Pennsylvania. We bring new opportunity to our legacy energy regions, revitalize local economies, and help the U.S. lead the next industrial revolution. It’s time to match bold policy with private sector potential — and this bill will do just that.”

Meuser’s upcoming bill “builds on momentum created by the Trump Administration, which began the push to onshore critical mineral refining and processing,” the news release said.