House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) has scheduled a committee meeting next week to consider authorizing subpoenas against the Obama administration in two ongoing panel investigations.

Hastings says the Interior Department has refused to turn over the "vast majority" of documents requested by panel Republicans related to offshore drilling and coal mining policies.

"Both investigations have been ongoing for over one year," Hastings wrote in a memo released this afternoon, "and both matters raise serious questions about the actions of the Obama Administration, the resulting significant impact on the economy, and thousands of lost American jobs."

Specifically, Hastings is looking into documents associated with an Interior Department report that recommended a temporary ban on deepwater drilling after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Republicans have accused the White House of tampering with language in the report to imply a group of independent scientists supported the proposed drilling ban, though they never endorsed it (E&E Daily, Jan. 26).

Committee leaders are also looking into the Office of Surface Mining's forthcoming proposal to protect waterways from the impacts of coal mining. Panel Republicans have zeroed in on the so-called stream protection rule over allegations that administration officials pressured former contractors to alter job impact assumptions (E&E Daily, Feb. 2).

Interior Department leaders say they are cooperating with the committee as much as possible. When it comes to the stream protection rule, spokesman Adam Fetcher said, “To date, the Department and OSM have already provided multiple informational letters and briefings regarding OSM’s development of a stream protection rule, as well as 538 documents -- totaling upwards of 13,000 pages for the Committee.”

On the drilling report, he said, “The Department continues to make offers of accommodation as part of the Department’s ongoing effort to respond to the Committee’s requests. To date, we have provided the Committee with four document productions totaling 126 documents and over 970 pages.”

Hastings, however, thinks they have fallen short. "In stark contrast to President Obama's pledge of unprecedented transparency, the Administration has taken deliberate steps to avoid openness and prevent disclosure of information about these actions," Hastings wrote.

Schedule: The business meeting is Wednesday, March 28, at 10 a.m. in 1324 Longworth.

Reporter Phil Taylor contributed.