STREAM Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1458
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Coats, Daniel [R-IN]
Introduced: 2015-05-22
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Economic performance and conditions

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Environmental assessment, monitoring, research

Environmental regulatory procedures

Intergovernmental relations

Mining

State and local government operations
Latest action: action_date: 2015-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Summaries:
action_date: 2015-05-22
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act of 2015 or the STREAM Act of 2015</b></p> <p>This bill amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to direct the Department of the Interior to make publicly available the scientific products used in developing a rule under the Act or any related environmental impact statement, environmental assessment, or economic assessment when the rule or assessment is published. If those scientific products received federal funds, Interior must also make publicly available the data used and the background information of its authors.</p> <p>If Interior does not comply, the notice and comment period for the rules and assessments will be extended by specified periods. A rule or an assessment must be withdrawn if Interior fails to comply for more than 180 days.</p> <p>In carrying out the Act, Interior: (1) may not make any determination regarding certain agency action subject to specified mining and environmental Acts, and (2) shall defer to the determinations of an agency or state authority implementing those Acts with respect to any agency action under the jurisdiction of that agency or state.</p>

tv_txt: II 114th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1458 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 22, 2015 Mr. Coats (for himself, Mr. Manchin , and Mrs. Capito ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to ensure scientific 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 of 2015 or the STREAM Act of 2015 . 2. Publication of scientific products for rules and related environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and economic assessments (a) In general 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 rules and related environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and economic assessments (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Agency action The term agency action has the meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. (2) Background information The term background information means— (A) a biographical document, including a curriculum vitae or resume, that details the exhaustive, professional work history, education, and any professional memberships of a person; and (B) the amount and date of any Federal grants or contracts received by that person. (3) Economic assessment The term economic assessment means any assessment prepared by a Federal agency in accordance with section 6(a)(3)(C) of Executive Order 12866 ( 5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to regulatory planning and review). (4) Environmental assessment The term environmental assessment has the meaning given the term in section 1508.9 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations. (5) Environmental impact statement The term environmental impact statement means any environmental impact statement or similar analysis required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ). (6) Publicly available The term publicly available means published online on— (A) a publicly accessible website that allows the submission of comments on proposed regulations and related documents published by the Federal Government; (B) a publicly accessible website of the Secretary; and (C) the website of the Federal Register. (7) Raw data The term raw data means any computational process or quantitative or qualitative data processed from a source that is relied upon in a scientific product to support a finding or observation. (8) Relied Upon The term relied upon means explicitly cited or referenced in a rule, environmental impact statement, environmental assessment, or economic assessment. (9) Rule The term rule has the meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. (10) Scientific method The term scientific method means a method of research under which— (A) a problem is identified; (B) relevant data are gathered; (C) a hypothesis is formulated from the data; and (D) the hypothesis is empirically tested in a manner specified by documented protocols and procedures. (11) Scientific product The term scientific product means any product that— (A) employs the scientific method for inventorying, monitoring, experimenting, studying, researching, and modeling purposes; and (B) is relied upon by the Secretary in development of any rule, environmental impact statement, environmental assessment, or economic assessment. (b) Requirements The Secretary shall— (1) make publicly available on the date of the publication of any draft, final, emergency, or supplemental rule under this Act, or any related environmental impact statement, environmental assessment, or economic assessment, each scientific product the Secretary relied upon in developing the rule, environmental impact statement, environmental assessment, or economic assessment; and (2) for those scientific products receiving Federal funds, 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. (c) Compliance (1) In general Subject to paragraph (2), failure to comply with the publication requirements of subsection (b)— (A) with respect to draft or supplemental rules, environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, or economic assessments shall extend by 1 day the notice and comment period for each day of noncompliance; or (B) with respect to final or emergency rules, shall delay the effective date of the final rule by 60 days plus an additional day for each day of noncompliance. (2) Withdrawal If the Secretary fails to comply with the publication requirements of subsection (b) for more than 180 days after the date of publication of any rule, or any related environmental impact statement, environmental assessment, or economic assessment, under this Act, the Secretary shall withdraw the rule, environmental impact statement, environmental assessment, or economic assessment. . (b) Conforming amendment The table of contents for the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 ( 30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq. ) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 529 the following: Sec. 530. Publication of scientific products for rules and related environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and economic assessments. . 3. Compliance with other Federal laws Section 702 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 ( 30 U.S.C. 1292 ) is amended— (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsection (e) and (f), respectively; and (2) 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, interpretive rule, policy, regulation, notice, or order that duplicates any action taken under an Act referred to in subsection (a) (including regulations and rules). (d) Deference to implementing agencies and State authorities In carrying out this Act (including rules, interpretive rules, policies, regulations, notices, or orders), the Secretary— (1) shall defer to the determinations of an agency or State authority implementing an Act referred to in subsection (a) with respect to any agency action under the jurisdiction of the agency or State authority, as applicable; and (2) shall not make any determination regarding any agency action subject to an Act referred to in subsection (a). .