Combating Obstruction Against Leasing Act of 2025 or the COAL Act of 2025
This bill requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to process certain applications to lease coal mineral estates owned by the federal government in order to develop coal.
If the environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 has commenced for an application, then the BLM must 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.
With respect to previously awarded coal leases, the BLM must grant any additional approvals required for mining activities to commence.
Finally, the bill nullifies the Department of the Interior's Secretarial Order 3338, which placed a hold on most new federal coal leases until the BLM completes a comprehensive review of the federal coal program.