S. 456 — STEAM Act

This section expands the rebuttable presumption for categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) to include geothermal exploration and development activities conducted pursuant to the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, in addition to oil and gas activities under the Mineral Leasing Act. It does so by (1) adding the Geothermal Steam Act to subsection (a); and (2) in subsection (b), revising paragraphs (2) and (3) to include drilling of geothermal wells (previously limited to oil or gas wells) at locations or well pads with prior drilling within five years or within developed fields analyzed as reasonably foreseeable in a land use plan or NEPA document approved within five years.