Position on H.R. 1644, the Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act

We urge the House to oppose H.R. 1644, the “Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act” or the “STREAM Act.” The bill would halt an ongoing rulemaking by the Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) to protect streams from the adverse impacts of surface mining. OSM has been studying these issues for years now; yet the bill would require another $2 million to be spent on further study and delay any action thereafter – before OSM has even released its draft stream protection rule for public comment. The rulemaking should be allowed to proceed and the public given the opportunity to comment on the proposal.

Moreover, this troubling bill is also overly broad, adopting a scattergun approach that on its face goes far beyond any concerns about the current rulemaking. The bill would require that the Secretary of Interior make available any “scientific product” relied upon in “any draft, supplemental, final, or emergency rule…or any related environmental analysis or economic assessment” 90 days before publication of such rule, analysis, or assessment. Because much of OSM’s day-to-day operations involves “analyses or assessments” of an economic or environmental nature, this requirement could create uncertainty and completely hamstring OSM’s ability to function.