I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2362 

To amend the Energy and Policy Act of 2005 to reauthorize a provision 

relating to geothermal lease revenue, to direct the Secretary of the 

Interior to establish a pilot project to streamline certain Federal renewable energy permitting processes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 12, 2009 

Mr. HELLER (for himself, Ms. BERKLEY, and Ms. TITUS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy and Policy Act of 2005 to reauthorize 

a provision relating to geothermal lease revenue, to direct 

the Secretary of the Interior to establish a pilot project 

to streamline certain Federal renewable energy permitting processes, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Renewable Energy 

5 Permitting Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) PILOT PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Pilot Project’’ 

2 means the pilot project to improve Federal renew3 able energy permit coordination established under 

4 section 3(a). 

5 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

6 the Secretary of the Interior. 

7 SEC. 3. PILOT PROJECT TO IMPROVE FEDERAL RENEW8 ABLE ENERGY PERMIT COORDINATION. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—During the period of fiscal 

10 years 2009 through 2018, the Secretary shall establish 

11 and carry out a pilot project to improve Federal renewable 

12 energy permit coordination. 

13 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

16 shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for 

17 purposes of this section with— 

18 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

19 (B) the Administrator of the Environ20 mental Protection Agency; and 

21 (C) the Chief of Engineers. 

22 (2) STATE PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary 

23 may request that the Governors of the States of Ari24 zona, California, Nevada, and Wyoming be signatoVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:22 May 13, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2362.IH H2362

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1 ries to the memorandum of understanding described 

2 in paragraph (1). 

3 (c) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED STAFF.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

5 the date on which the memorandum of under6 standing under subsection (b) is signed, all Federal 

7 signatory parties shall, if appropriate, assign to each 

8 of the field offices specified in subsection (d) an em9 ployee who has expertise in the regulatory issues re10 lating to the office in which the employee is em11 ployed, including, as applicable, particular expertise 

12 in— 

13 (A) the consultations and the preparation 

14 of biological opinions under section 7 of the En15 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

16 1536); 

17 (B) permits under section 404 of Federal 

18 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344); 

19 (C) regulatory matters under the Clean Air 

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); 

21 (D) planning under section 14 of the Na22 tional Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 

23 U.S.C. 472a); and 


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1 (E) the preparation of analyses under the 

2 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

3 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

4 (2) DUTIES.—Each employee assigned under 

5 paragraph (1) shall— 

6 (A) not later than 90 days after the date 

7 of assignment, report to field managers of the 

8 Bureau of Land Management in the office to 

9 which the employee is assigned; 

10 (B) be responsible for all issues relating to 

11 the jurisdiction of the home office or agency of 

12 the employee; and 

13 (C) participate as part of the team of per14 sonnel working on proposed energy projects, 

15 planning, and environmental analyses. 

16 (d) FIELD OFFICES.—The field offices referred to in 

17 subsection (c)(1) shall include offices in, at a minimum, 

18 the States of Arizona, California, Nevada, and Wyoming. 

19 (e) ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—The Secretary shall 

20 assign to each field office specified in subsection (d) any 

21 additional personnel that are necessary to ensure the ef22 fective implementation of— 

23 (1) the Pilot Project; and 

24 (2) other programs administered by the field of25 fices, including inspection and enforcement relating 


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1 to renewable energy development on Federal land, in 

2 accordance with the multiple use mandate of the 

3 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

4 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

5 (f) DISTRIBUTION OF SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY

6 RENTAL INCOME.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

8 through (5) and notwithstanding any other provision 

9 of law, for fiscal year 2009 and each fiscal year 

10 thereafter, of the amount of solar and wind energy 

11 rental income collected by the Bureau of Land Man12 agement (in lieu of depositing all of the income into 

13 the general fund of the Treasury)— 

14 (A) 50 percent shall be paid by the Sec15 retary of the Treasury to the 1 or more States 

16 within the boundaries of which the income is 

17 derived; 

18 (B) 25 percent shall be paid by the Sec19 retary of the Treasury to the 1 or more coun20 ties within which the income is derived; 

21 (C)(i) in the case of each of fiscal years 

22 2009 through 2018, 20 percent or $5,000,000, 

23 whichever is less, shall be deposited in a special 

24 fund in the Treasury, to be known as the ‘‘ReVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:22 May 13, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2362.IH H2362

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1 newable Energy Permit Processing Improve2 ment Fund’’; and 

3 (ii) in the case of fiscal year 2019 and 

4 each fiscal year thereafter, 20 percent shall re5 main in the general fund of the Treasury; and 

6 (D) 5 percent shall be deposited in a spe7 cial fund in the Treasury, to be known as the 

8 ‘‘Solar Energy Land Reclamation, Restoration, 

9 and Mitigation Fund’’. 

10 (2) VALUATION.—To determine the value of 

11 public land for the purpose of determining rental in12 come described in paragraph (1)— 

13 (A) the value of the public land used for 

14 solar energy projects shall be determined by the 

15 Bureau of Land Management based on statis16 tics of the National Agricultural Statistical 

17 Service; 

18 (B) the value of the public land used for 

19 wind energy projects shall be determined in ac20 cordance with the rental schedule established by 

21 the Secretary, acting through the Bureau of 

22 Land Management, in effect as of the date of 

23 enactment of this Act; and 

24 (C) the value of the public land used for 

25 geothermal energy projects shall be determined 


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1 in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 

2 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801 et seq.). 

3 (3) RENEWABLE ENERGY PERMIT PROCESSING

4 IMPROVEMENT FUND.—Amounts in the Renewable 

5 Energy Permit Processing Improvement Fund estab6 lished under paragraph (1)(C)(i) shall be available to 

7 the Secretary for the coordination and processing of 

8 renewable energy permits required for renewable en9 ergy projects on Federal public land. 

10 (4) SOLAR ENERGY LAND RECLAMATION, RES11 TORATION, AND MITIGATION FUND.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Solar 

13 Energy Land Reclamation, Restoration, and 

14 Mitigation Fund under paragraph (1)(D) shall 

15 be available to the Secretary for the purpose 

16 of— 

17 (i) reclaiming and restoring public 

18 land used for the production of solar en19 ergy, including land used for ancillary fa20 cilities; and 

21 (ii) mitigating impacts on public land, 

22 including protecting other sensitive public 

23 land if the land used for solar or wind 

24 power generation cannot be adequately re25 stored without the use of funds made availVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:22 May 13, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2362.IH H2362

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1 able under this paragraph, as determined 

2 by the Secretary. 

3 (B) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.— 

4 (i) IN GENERAL.—The total amount 

5 of funds deposited in the Solar Energy 

6 Land Reclamation, Restoration, and Miti7 gation Fund under paragraph (1)(D) shall 

8 not exceed $50,000,000. 

9 (ii) SURPLUS AMOUNTS.—If the total 

10 amount of funds deposited in the Solar 

11 Energy Land Reclamation, Restoration, 

12 and Mitigation Fund under paragraph 

13 (1)(D) is $50,000,000, any additional 

14 amounts that would otherwise be deposited 

15 in the Fund under paragraph (1)(D) shall 

16 remain in the general fund of the Treas17 ury. 

18 (5) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts under 

19 this subsection shall be available for expenditure in 

20 accordance with this subsection, without further ap21 propriation and without fiscal year limitation. 

22 (g) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—For the purposes of co23 ordination and processing of renewable energy permits re24 quired for renewable energy projects on Federal public 

25 land under the administration of the Pilot Project offices 


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1 specified in subsection (d), the Secretary may authorize 

2 the expenditure or transfer of such funds as are necessary 

3 to— 

4 (1) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

5 (2) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 

6 (3) the Forest Service; 

7 (4) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

8 (5) the Corps of Engineers; and 

9 (6) the States of Arizona, California, Nevada, 

10 and Wyoming (for costs incurred by the States relat11 ing to the permitting process). 

12 (h) FEES.—During the period in which the Pilot 

13 Project is authorized, the Secretary shall not implement 

14 any regulation or initiate any rulemaking to enable an in15 crease in fees to recover additional costs relating to renew16 able energy permits required for renewable energy projects 

17 on Federal public land. 

18 (i) EFFECT ON OTHER AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

19 section affects— 

20 (1) the operation of any Federal or State law; 

21 or 

22 (2) any delegation of authority made by the 

23 head of a Federal agency the employees of which are 

24 participating in the Pilot Project. 


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1 (j) LENGTH OF LEASES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

2 PROJECTS ON PUBLIC LAND.—The length of leases for 

3 renewable energy projects on public land carried out under 

4 this Act shall be determined in accordance with the Fed5 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

6 1701 et seq.). 

7 (k) REPORTS.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

9 Congress a report that— 

10 (1) describes the results of the Pilot Project as 

11 of the date of the report; and 

12 (2) makes a recommendation to the President 

13 regarding whether the Pilot Project should be imple14 mented throughout the United States. 

15 (l) DEPOSIT AND USE OF GEOTHERMAL LEAVE REV16 ENUES.—Section 234 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

17 (42 U.S.C. 15873) is amended— 

18 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘FOR 5

19 FISCAL YEARS’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘in the first 

21 5 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment 

22 of this Act’’. 

Æ 


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