Republicans leaders on the House Natural Resources Committee appear to be on a collision course with the Interior Department over documents related to the forthcoming stream protection rule.

Today is the panel's deadline for Interior and its Office of Surface Mining to turn over materials related to the rulemaking, including 30 hours of recordings of conversations with agency contractors. It remains unclear whether Interior will comply.

"To date, the Department and OSM have already provided multiple informational letters and briefings as well as 488 documents -- totaling upwards of 12,600 pages for the Committee," Interior spokesman Adam Fetcher said in a statement. "Departmental and OSM witnesses have appeared before the Committee to provide testimony and answer questions regarding this matter on several occasions."

Staffers and Obama administration officials have been tussling for months over documents, since committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) began their investigation into the stream protection rule. Last week, the lawmakers threatened to seek subpoenas to compel the administration to turn over materials.

"The subpoena requires them to comply," said Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), one of the rule's most vocal critics. "I don't think the department is going to ignore a subpoena from the U.S. Congress."

Hastings and Lamborn gave Interior and OSM until next week, Feb. 9, to turn over another set of documents (E&ENews PM, Jan. 25). Those include communications between the White House and Interior officials, and interactions with environmentalists related to the settlement that helped lead to the rulemaking.

"At this time we have not received any documents from the Interior Department," panel spokeswoman Jill Strait said in a statement yesterday afternoon. "Hastings and Lamborn have made clear their intent to move to compel production of the documents if the deadlines are not met and will decide at that time what specific steps to take."

Administration critics say the stream protection rule will lead to thousands of job losses in the coal mining industry. And they say OSM may have parted ways with a contractor because of leaked documents about the proposal's adverse effects.

"We have a responsibility to get to the bottom of this," Johnson said in an interview. "And we have some pretty compelling information so far that the administration is heading in the wrong direction."

The administration says congressional critics are blasting a proposal that has yet to be finalized.

"OSM is currently completing an analysis of the environmental and economic impacts of the rule under development," Fetcher said. "Once the analysis is complete, there will be extensive additional opportunity for the public to review and comment on the proposed rule as well as the underlying analysis."

"We will continue to be responsive and engaged in the ongoing dialogue with the Committee," Fetcher added, "in order to meet their oversight needs in a manner that respects the ongoing nature of the Department's deliberations and decision-making."