COAL Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Combating Obstruction Against Leasing Act or the COAL Act
This bill requires the Department of the Interior to take specified actions with respect to qualified coal leasing applications.
Specifically, Interior must, with respect to
each qualified application, promptly publish a draft environmental assessment and any applicable implementing regulations, finalize the fair market value of the coal tract for which a lease by application is pending, take all intermediate actions necessary to grant the application, and grant the application; and
previously awarded coal leases, grant any additional approvals of Interior, or any bureau, agency, or division of Interior, required for mining activities to commence.
The bill provides that, notwithstanding any judicial decision to the contrary or a departmental review of the federal coal leasing program, Secretarial Order 3338 (which directs the Bureau of Land Management to analyze and consider potential leasing and management reforms to the program), issued by Interior on January 15, 2016, shall have no force or effect.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 8, 2023. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 22, 2023: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Harriet Hageman (R-WY) introduced it on March 8, 2023, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 8, 2023, 1282 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1268 days ago, on March 22, 2023.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers