S. 456 · In committee · Energy

STEAM Act

Sponsor: Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)

What it does

• Expand the Energy Policy Act of 2005 categorical exclusion from NEPA review to include certain geothermal exploration and development activities.
• Exempt geothermal well drilling from environmental assessment or impact statement requirements when drilling occurs in areas with previous drilling activity within the prior five years.
• Exempt geothermal well drilling from NEPA review when conducted within developed geothermal fields with prior land use plans or environmental documents from the preceding five years that identified drilling as foreseeabl

Official summary

Streamlining Thermal Energy through Advanced Mechanisms Act or the STEAM Act 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.

Latest action

Sep 16, 2026: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held.

Committee: Senate Energy and Natural Resources