STEAM Act
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The STEAM Act would extend an existing fast-track environmental review exemption — known as a categorical exclusion — from oil and gas drilling to geothermal exploration and development in areas where drilling has already occurred or been studied under federal land-use plans.
By bypassing the need for a full environmental assessment or impact statement in those previously vetted areas, the bill would reduce the time and paperwork required to bring new geothermal energy projects online on federal lands.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would amend Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to add geothermal exploration and development activities under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to an existing categorical exclusion from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). A categorical exclusion means the activity does not require a formal environmental assessment or environmental impact statement. The exclusion would apply to drilling a geothermal well in an area where drilling has occurred within the previous five years, or within a developed field for which an approved land-use plan or NEPA document determined drilling to be a reasonably foreseeable activity within the previous five years.
The bill would not eliminate environmental oversight entirely — the categorical exclusion applies only in areas already studied or previously drilled, and existing NEPA requirements would continue to govern new or unstudied areas. The bill makes no changes to the underlying Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 itself.
Key provisions
- 1Would add geothermal exploration and development under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to an existing NEPA categorical exclusion currently available for oil and gas activities.
- 2Would apply the categorical exclusion to geothermal drilling in areas where drilling has already occurred within the previous five years.
- 3Would apply the categorical exclusion to geothermal drilling within a developed field where an approved land-use plan or NEPA document found drilling to be a reasonably foreseeable activity within the previous five years.
Who would be affected
Geothermal energy developers and companies seeking to drill on federal lands in previously studied or developed areas; federal agencies responsible for issuing geothermal leases and conducting NEPA reviews; and states with active geothermal resources, particularly in the West, where federal land holdings are concentrated.
Why it matters
For developers, the change would reduce the time and cost of obtaining federal approval for geothermal wells in areas that have already undergone environmental review, potentially accelerating project timelines. For agencies, it would reduce the administrative burden of duplicating prior environmental analyses. The trade-off is that less project-specific environmental review would be conducted for qualifying drilling sites.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 390 (42 U.S.C. 15942) (Sec. 2)
Extends the existing NEPA categorical exclusion for oil and gas drilling to cover geothermal exploration and development activities in previously drilled or studied federal land areas.
How implementation would work
The bill is largely self-executing through a statutory amendment: once enacted, geothermal drilling applications that meet either qualifying condition — prior drilling within five years, or a NEPA-approved land-use plan designating the field as a foreseeable drilling area within five years — would automatically qualify for the categorical exclusion. No new rulemaking is required, though agencies administering geothermal leases under the Geothermal Steam Act would need to apply the revised statutory criteria when evaluating permit applications and determining whether a categorical exclusion applies.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 570.
Official CRS summary
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This bill expedites the environmental review of certain geothermal energy activities under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Specifically, the bill expands the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to include certain geothermal exploration or development activities in an existing categorical exclusion from NEPA for certain oil or gas activities.
A categorical exclusion applies to a class of actions that do not require an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement under NEPA.
The categorical exclusion established by the bill applies to drilling a geothermal well (1) in an area where drilling has occurred previously within the five years prior to the date when drilling begins; or (2) within a developed field for which an approved land use plan or environmental document prepared under NEPA determined drilling to be a reasonably foreseeable activity, so long as the plan or document was approved within the five years prior to the date when drilling begins.
Legislative subjects
Alternative and renewable resources; Electric power generation and transmission; Energy; Mining
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-656