COAL Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Cynthia Lummis
Introduced
Summary
Creates a mandatory, expedited pathway to approve certain coal lease applications. This bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to complete National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) steps and grant specified pending coal lease applications that had already begun environmental review. It also would void a 2016 Secretarial Order that limited federal coal leasing.
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- Coal lease applicants would get required final actions that lead to lease grants. The Secretary must finalize the fair-market value for each qualified coal tract.
- Operators with leases already awarded would receive any additional Interior Department approvals needed so mining activities can begin.
- For qualified applications without a published draft, the bill would force publication of a draft environmental assessment and any implementing regulations, starting the public comment and regulatory steps.
- Section 3 expressly nullifies Secretarial Order 3338 (2016), removing that moratorium constraint on future federal coal leasing actions.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Faster federal coal leasing for applicants
If enacted, the bill would speed up federal coal leases that were pending when the law is passed. It would define a "coal lease" as a BLM lease on Form 3400-012. It would treat as "qualified" any application pending on enactment that used the BLM lease-by-application process and had NEPA review started. The Interior Secretary would have to publish needed draft environmental assessments or rules, set fair market value, finish internal approvals, and grant each qualified application as soon as practicable. For already awarded leases, the Secretary would have to grant any additional Interior Department approvals needed to start mining. The bill would also cancel Secretarial Order 3338 (the January 15, 2016 federal coal moratorium).
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Cynthia Lummis
WY • R
Cosponsors
Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY]
WY • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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