STEAM Act

This bill updates the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to speed up approval of certain geothermal energy work. It adds “geothermal” to parts of the law that already streamline environmental review for oil and gas. The goal is to make it quicker to explore and build geothermal projects in places that have already been studied or developed, without starting reviews from scratch.

Key points:

• Who is affected: Geothermal developers, local communities near geothermal resources, and agencies that review projects.
• What changes: Environmental review rules are updated so geothermal projects can use the same faster review paths that oil and gas projects use in certain situations, especially in previously studied or developed areas.
• When: The text does not specify a timeline; these changes would take effect if the bill becomes law.