PSI Sci
New here? Follow the money and the votes · Not sure of your district? Find your U.S. House member · Find your state legislators

H.R. 1644: STREAM Act

Before you vote › Federal bills

H.R. 1644: STREAM Act

114th Congress · introduced 2015-03-26 · Energy · Latest: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2015-03-26 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Rep. Mooney, Alexander X. [R-WV-2] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: 5 recorded votes in our records. Latest: House roll call 38 (2016): On Agreeing to the Amendment, HR1644 (2016-01-12), Failed. See all
  4. Where it stands now: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

STREAM Act

Plain summary

Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act or the STREAM Act (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to direct the Department of the Interior to make publicly available online and in the Federal Register, 90 days before publication, any draft, proposed, supplemental, final, or emergency rule, or any environmental analysis, economic assessment, policy, or guidance, and each scientific product upon which the Department has relied in developing the rule, the analysis, or the assessment. A scientific product is any product that: employs the scientific method for inventorying, monitoring, experimenting, studying, researching, or modeling purposes; and is relied upon by Interior in developing any rule, environmental analysis, economic assessment, policy, or guidance. For scientific products receiving federal funds Interior must also make publicly available the raw data used for them (any computational process or quantitative or qualitative data not protected by copyright or containing personally identifiable information, sensitive intellectual property, trade secrets, or business-sensitive information). If Interior fails to make publicly available any scientific product for longer than six months, it must withdraw the rule, environmental analysis, or economic assessment policy or guidance. This requirement shall not apply, however, if a delay in the publication of a rule will pose an imminent and severe threat to human life. (Sec. 3) Interior shall arrange with the National Academy of Sciences for its Board on Earth Sciences and Resources to conduct a detailed, comprehensive study of the effectiveness of the "Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations Permanent Regulatory Program; Stream Buffer Zones and Fish, Wildlife, and Related Environmental Values" Final Rule in protecting perennial and intermittent streams through the use of stream buffer zones. The study shall include suggestions and recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of the rule if it finds regulatory inefficiencies. Appropriations for the study are authorized for FY2016-FY2017. Until one year after publication of the Board's report to Congress, Interior may not issue any proposed or final regulations under the Act that relate either to stream buffer zones or to stream protection. (Sec. 4) The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 is further amended to declare that nothing in it authorizes Interior to take any action that duplicates, implements, interprets, enforces, or determines compliance with specified mining, environmental, or fish and wildlife law.

Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to House with amendment(s)), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

STREAM Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to House with amendment(s))

AI explanation – may be wrong, check the official text

No AI explanation yet. It takes up to a minute to write and is then saved for everyone.

Limited to a few requests an hour per person.

The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Arguments against (opponents)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Mooney, Alexander X. [R-WV-2] · 34 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: H.R. 1644, STREAM Act (2015-09-23)

Cosponsors on this site

Andy Barr (R-KY), Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY), Harold Rogers (R-KY), Ryan K. Zinke (R-MT), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-AS), Mike Bost (R-IL), Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann (R-TN), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Robert E. Latta (R-OH), Trent Kelly (R-MS), David P. Joyce (R-OH), Jim Jordan (R-OH)

Recorded votes

Words on this page, explained (5)
Appropriation
Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill
A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Federal Register
The official daily publication of the U.S. government for agency rules, proposed rules, public notices and presidential documents.
Rulemaking
The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong114-hr1644 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114