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S 456 United States Senate · 119th Congress

STEAM Act

S 456, the STEAM Act, amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to include geothermal resources under existing environmental review requirements for energy projects. It updates Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act to explicitly add "geothermal" alongside "gas" in provisions governing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews for exploration and development. This change directly affects geothermal energy developers by extending the same federal permitting and environmental review processes currently applied to gas projects. The bill modifies legal language to ensure geothermal projects undergo the same federal environmental assessments as gas projects, without creating new programs or altering funding.
Issues: ✓ EnergySupports EnergyAdds geothermal to NEPA review requirements, treating it as a renewable energy source requiring standard environmental processes for development.90% confidence ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentExtends NEPA environmental reviews to geothermal projects, requiring federal assessment of environmental impacts before development, aligning with environmental protection standards.90% confidence
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
President
Introduced Feb 6, 2025 Last action Feb 6, 2025
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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
2
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Feb 6, 2025
Committee
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
upper
Feb 6, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
1 primary · 3 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Catherine Cortez Masto
Catherine Cortez Masto
DDemocratic
NV
n/a
Co
Photo of John Hoeven
John Hoeven
RRepublican
ND
n/a
Co
Photo of Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Murkowski
RRepublican
AK
n/a
Co
Photo of Steve Daines
Steve Daines
RRepublican
MT
n/a