H.R. 1644 — Introduced in House

I 114th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1644 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 26, 2015 Mr. Mooney of West Virginia (for himself, Mr. Lamborn, and Mr. Johnson of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to ensure transparency in the development of environmental regulations, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act or the STREAM Act. 2. Publication of scientific products for rules and related environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and economic assessments (a) Requirement Title V of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 530. Publication of scientific products for proposed rules and related environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and economic assessments (a) Requirement (1) In general The Secretary shall make publicly available, by online publication and in the Federal Register, 90 days before the publication of any draft, supplemental, final, or emergency rule under this Act, or any related environmental analysis or economic assessment, each scientific product the Secretary relied on in developing the rule, environmental analysis, or economic assessment. (2) Federally funded scientific products For those scientific products receiving Federal funds in part, or in full, the Secretary shall also make publicly available— (A) the raw data used for the federally funded scientific product; and (B) background information of the authors of the scientific study. (b) Compliance (1) In general Failure to make publicly available any scientific product 90 days prior to the publication of— (A) any draft, or supplemental rule, environmental analysis, or economic assessment shall extend by one day the notice and comment period for each day such scientific study is not made available; or (B) any final or emergency rule shall delay the effective date of the final rule by 60 days plus each day the scientific product is withheld. (2) Delay longer than 6 months If the Secretary withholds any scientific product for longer than 6 months, the Secretary shall withdraw the rule, environmental analysis, or economic assessment. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents in the first section of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to such title the following: Sec. 530. Publication of scientific products for proposed rules and related environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and economic assessments. . 3. Study of the Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations Permanent Regulatory Program; Stream Buffer Zones and Fish, Wildlife, and Related Environmental Values final rule published June 30, 1983 (48 Fed. Reg. 30312 et seq.), and amended September 30, 1983 (48 Fed. Reg. 44777 et seq.) (a) Requirement Title VII of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1291 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 722. Study of the Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations Permanent Regulatory Program; Stream Buffer Zones and Fish, Wildlife, and Related Environmental Values final rule published June 30, 1983 (48 Fed. Reg. 30312 et seq.), and amended September 30, 1983 (48 Fed. Reg. 44777 et seq.) (a) Study No later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of the STREAM Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Interstate Mining Compact Commission, shall contract with the National Academy of Sciences, for execution by the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, to conduct a detailed, comprehensive study of the effectiveness of the Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations Permanent Regulatory Program; Stream Buffer Zones and Fish, Wildlife, and Related Environmental Values Final Rule published June 30, 1983 (48 Fed. Reg. 30312 et seq.), and amended September 30, 1983 (48 Fed. Reg. 44777 et seq.), in protecting perennial and intermittent streams through the use of stream buffer zones. (b) Report Not later than 2 years after execution of the contract under subsection (a), the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, appropriate Federal agencies, and the Governor of each of the States represented on the Interstate Mining Compact Commission a report containing— (1) the findings of the study conducted under subsection (a); and (2) recommendations, if any, regarding changes that would improve the effectiveness of the permitted activities as covered by the rule described in subsection (a). (c) Funding There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2016 and $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2017 for the purposes of this section. (d) Prohibition on new regulations The Secretary may not issue any proposed or final regulations under this Act relating to stream buffer zones or stream protection until one year after the publication of the report described in subsection (b). If the Secretary proposes any such regulations after the date of publication of the report, the Secretary shall take into consideration the findings and recommendations of the report. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents in the first section of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to such title the following: Sec. 722. Study of the Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations Permanent Regulatory Program; Stream Buffer Zones and Fish, Wildlife, and Related Environmental Values final rule published June 30, 1983 (48 Fed. Reg. 30312 et seq.), and amended September 30, 1983 (48 Fed. Reg. 44777 et seq.). . 4. Amendment to surface mining control and reclamation act of 1977 Section 702 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1292) is amended by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively, and by inserting after subsection (b) the following: (c) Compliance with other Federal laws Nothing in this Act authorizes the Secretary to take any action by rule, regulation, notice, or order that duplicates, enforces, or determines compliance with any of the Acts listed in subsection (a) or any regulation or rule promulgated thereunder. .