The House of Representatives on Jan. 21 approved overturning a 20-year ban on mining in a national forest in Minnesota that was implemented under President Joe Biden.

The Senate will now decide on the measure. If the upper chamber also passes the bill, it will head to the desk of President Donald Trump, who said on the campaign trail that he wanted to overturn the ban on mining in the Superior National Forest.

“Reversing Biden’s mining ban will protect Northern Minnesota jobs, strengthen national security through domestic production, and prevent future overreaches from happening again,” Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) said in a statement after the House voted 214–208 to overturn it. “I look forward to swift action in the Senate to send this resolution to President Trump’s desk.”

Stauber sponsored the legislation, which would withdraw a Department of the Interior order entered at Biden’s direction. The 2023 order imposed a 20-year ban on mining across some 225,504 acres in the national forest in northern Minnesota.

Lawmakers say the department failed to properly transmit a required notification to Congress regarding the ban. Conservationists have noted that it was detailed in federal publications and in letters to members of Congress.

The Congressional Review Act enables congressional repeal of administrative rules developed by executive agencies, but it has never before been used to overturn a mineral mining ban, according to the Sierra Club, which opposes overturning the ban.

“Minnesota’s Boundary Waters is one of our nation’s most iconic wilderness areas,” Jackie Feinberg, the Sierra Club’s national lands conservation campaign manager, said in a Jan. 21 statement. “This push by the Trump Administration and their Congressional allies to allow toxic mining in the Boundary Waters watershed puts this fragile ecosystem at risk, and is a clear giveaway to corporate polluters. Congress must listen to public feedback and reject this resolution.”

If the ban is lifted, the Trump administration will be free to reissue mining leases to Twin Metals, a subsidiary of Chile-based Antofagasta, which has been trying to develop the mine for decades on land controlled by the federal government. The mine would need to undergo an environmental review and obtain permits.

Twin Metals said in a statement that it was “very appreciative of Congress for their efforts to overturn an unnecessary and detrimental action that locked out a significant domestic source of critical minerals.”

Antofagasta has said it will likely export the mine’s copper and other critical minerals for processing overseas. Overturning the ban would also boost helium projects in the region, Stauber said.

Reuters contributed to this report.