II 

Calendar No. 756 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4753 

[Report No. 118–336] 

To reform leasing, permitting, and judicial review for certain energy and 

minerals projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2024 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself and Mr. BARRASSO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 19 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Reported by Mr. MANCHIN, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To reform leasing, permitting, and judicial review for certain 

energy and minerals projects, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ACCELERATING CLAIMS 

Sec. 101. Accelerating claims. 

TITLE II—FEDERAL ONSHORE ENERGY LEASING AND 

PERMITTING 

Sec. 201. Onshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 202. Term of application for permit to drill. 

Sec. 203. Permitting compliance on non-Federal land. 

Sec. 204. Coal leases on Federal land. 

Sec. 205. Rights-of-way across Indian land. 

Sec. 206. Accelerating renewable energy permitting. 

Sec. 207. Improving renewable energy coordination on Federal land. 

Sec. 208. Geothermal leasing and permitting improvements. 

Sec. 209. Electric grid projects. 

Sec. 210. Hardrock mining mill sites. 

TITLE III—FEDERAL OFFSHORE ENERGY LEASING AND 

PERMITTING 

Sec. 301. Offshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 302. Offshore wind energy. 

TITLE IV—ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION 

Sec. 401. Transmission permitting. 

Sec. 402. Transmission planning. 

TITLE V—ELECTRIC RELIABILITY 

Sec. 501. Reliability assessments. 

TITLE VI—LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS EXPORTS 

Sec. 601. Action on applications. 

Sec. 602. Supplemental reviews. 

TITLE VII—HYDROPOWER 

Sec. 701. Hydropower license extensions. 

3 TITLE I—ACCELERATING 

4 CLAIMS 

5 SEC. 101. ACCELERATING CLAIMS. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) AUTHORIZATION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘authoriza2 tion’’ means any license, permit, approval, 

3 order, or other administrative decision that is 

4 required or authorized under Federal law (in5 cluding regulations) to design, plan, site, con6 struct, reconstruct, or commence operations of 

7 a project. 

8 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘authoriza9 tion’’ includes— 

10 (i) agency approvals of lease sales, 

11 permits, or plans required to explore for, 

12 develop, or produce minerals under— 

13 (I) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

14 U.S.C. 181 et seq.); 

15 (II) the Act of August 7, 1947 

16 (commonly known as the ‘‘Mineral 

17 Leasing Act for Acquired Lands’’) (30 

18 U.S.C. 351 et seq.); 

19 (III) the Act of July 31, 1947 

20 (commonly known as the ‘‘Materials 

21 Act of 1947’’) (61 Stat. 681, chapter 

22 406; 30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

23 (IV) sections 2319 through 2344 

24 of the Revised Statutes (commonly 


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1 known as the ‘‘Mining Law of 1872’’) 

2 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.); 

3 (V) the Outer Continental Shelf 

4 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.); 

5 or 

6 (VI) the Geothermal Steam Act 

7 of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.); and 

8 (ii) statements or permits for a 

9 project under sections 7 and 10 of the En10 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

11 1536, 1539). 

12 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT.—The term 

13 ‘‘environmental document’’ includes any of the fol14 lowing, as prepared under the National Environ15 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.): 

16 (A) An environmental assessment. 

17 (B) A finding of no significant impact. 

18 (C) An environmental impact statement. 

19 (D) A record of decision. 

20 (3) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means a 

21 project— 

22 (A) proposed for the construction of infra23 structure— 

24 (i) to develop, produce, generate, 

25 store, transport, or distribute energy; 


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1 (ii) to capture, remove, transport, or 

2 store carbon dioxide; or 

3 (iii) to mine, extract, beneficiate, or 

4 process minerals; and 

5 (B) subject to the requirements that— 

6 (i) an environmental document be pre7 pared; and 

8 (ii) the applicable agency issue an au9 thorization of the activity. 

10 (4) PROJECT SPONSOR.—The term ‘‘project 

11 sponsor’’ means an entity, including any private, 

12 public, or public-private entity, seeking an authoriza13 tion for a project. 

14 (b) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—Notwithstanding 

15 any other provision of law, a civil action arising under 

16 Federal law seeking judicial review of a final agency action 

17 granting or denying an authorization shall be barred un18 less the civil action is filed by the date that is 150 days 

19 after the date on which the authorization was granted or 

20 denied, unless a shorter time is specified in the Federal 

21 law pursuant to which judicial review is allowed. 

22 (c) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—A reviewing court shall set 

23 for expedited consideration any civil action arising under 

24 Federal law seeking judicial review of a final agency action 

25 granting or denying an authorization. 


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1 (d) REMANDED ACTIONS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the reviewing court re3 mands a final Federal agency action granting or de4 nying an authorization to the Federal agency for 

5 further proceedings, whether on a motion by the 

6 court, the agency, or another party, the court shall 

7 set a reasonable schedule and deadline for the agen8 cy to act on remand, which shall not exceed 180 

9 days from the date on which the order of the court 

10 was issued, unless a longer time period is necessary 

11 to comply with applicable law. 

12 (2) EXPEDITED TREATMENT OF REMANDED AC13 TIONS.—The head of the Federal agency to which a 

14 court remands a final Federal agency action under 

15 paragraph (1) shall take such actions as may be nec16 essary to provide for the expeditious disposition of 

17 the action on remand in accordance with the sched18 ule and deadline set by the court under that para19 graph. 

20 (e) TREATMENT OF SUPPLEMENTAL OR REVISED

21 ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS.—For the purpose of sub22 section (b), the preparation of a supplemental or revised 

23 environmental document, when required, shall be consid24 ered to be a separate final agency action. 


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1 (f) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

2 on which an agency is served a copy of a petition for re3 view or a complaint in a civil action described in sub4 section (b), the head of the agency shall notify the project 

5 sponsor of the filing of the petition or complaint. 

6 TITLE II—FEDERAL ONSHORE 

7 ENERGY LEASING AND PER8 MITTING 

9 SEC. 201. ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 

10 (a) LIMITATION ON ISSUANCE OF CERTAIN LEASES

11 OR RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Section 50265(b)(1)(B) of Public 

12 Law 117–169 (43 U.S.C. 3006(b)(1)(B)) is amended, in 

13 the matter preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘for which 

14 expressions of interest have been submitted that have 

15 been’’ after ‘‘sum of total acres’’. 

16 (b) MINERAL LEASING ACT REFORMS.— 

17 (1) EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR OIL AND

18 GAS LEASING.—Section 17(b) of the Mineral Leas19 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)) is amended by adding at 

20 the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) SUBDIVISION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A parcel of land in23 cluded in an expression of interest that the Sec24 retary of the Interior offers for lease shall be 

25 leased as nominated and not subdivided into 


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1 multiple parcels unless the Secretary of the In2 terior determines that a subpart of the sub3 mitted parcel is not open to oil or gas leasing 

4 under the approved resource management plan. 

5 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED REVIEWS.—Nothing in 

6 this paragraph affects the obligations of the 

7 Secretary of the Interior to complete require8 ments and reviews established by other provi9 sions of law before leasing a parcel of land. 

10 ‘‘(4) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) LEASE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A 

12 lease issued under this section shall be subject 

13 to the terms and conditions of the approved re14 source management plan. 

15 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF LEASING DECISION.— 

16 Notwithstanding section 1506.1 of title 40, 

17 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

18 date of enactment of this paragraph), the Sec19 retary may conduct a lease sale under an ap20 proved resource management plan while amend21 ments to the approved plan are under consider22 ation.’’. 

23 (2) REFUND OF EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

24 FEE.—Section 17(q) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

25 U.S.C. 226(q)) is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it 

2 appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of the Inte3 rior’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘non5 refundable’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) REFUND FOR NONWINNING BID.—If a per8 son other than the person who submitted the expres9 sion of interest is the highest responsible qualified 

10 bidder for a parcel of land covered by the applicable 

11 expression of interest in a lease sale conducted 

12 under this section— 

13 ‘‘(A) as a condition of the issuance of the 

14 lease, the person who is the highest responsible 

15 qualified bidder shall pay to the Secretary of 

16 the Interior an amount equal to the applicable 

17 fee paid by the person who submitted the ex18 pression of interest; and 

19 ‘‘(B) not later than 60 days after the date 

20 of the lease sale, the Secretary of the Interior 

21 shall refund to the person who submitted the 

22 expression of interest an amount equal to the 

23 amount of the initial fee paid. 


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1 ‘‘(4) REFUNDABILITY.—Except as provided in 

2 paragraph (3)(B), the fee assessed under paragraph 

3 (1) shall be nonrefundable.’’. 

4 SEC. 202. TERM OF APPLICATION FOR PERMIT TO DRILL. 

5 Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

6 226(p)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(4) TERM.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A permit to drill ap9 proved under this subsection shall be valid for 

10 a single non-renewable 4-year period beginning 

11 on the date of the approval. 

12 ‘‘(B) RETROACTIVITY.—In addition to all 

13 approved applications for permits to drill sub14 mitted on or after the date of enactment of this 

15 paragraph, subparagraph (A) shall apply to— 

16 ‘‘(i) all permits approved during the 

17 2-year period preceding the date of enact18 ment of this paragraph; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) all pending applications for per20 mit to drill submitted prior to the date of 

21 enactment of this paragraph.’’. 

22 SEC. 203. PERMITTING COMPLIANCE ON NON-FEDERAL 

23 LAND. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the Mineral 

25 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Federal Oil and 


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1 Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1701 

2 et seq.), or subpart 3162 of part 3160 of title 43, Code 

3 of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), but sub4 ject to any applicable State or Tribal requirements and 

5 subsection (c), the Secretary of the Interior shall not re6 quire a permit to drill for an oil and gas lease under the 

7 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) for an action 

8 occurring within an oil and gas drilling or spacing unit 

9 if— 

10 (1) the Federal Government— 

11 (A) owns less than 50 percent of the min12 erals within the oil and gas drilling or spacing 

13 unit; and 

14 (B) does not own or lease the surface es15 tate within the area directly impacted by the 

16 action; 

17 (2) the well is located on non-Federal land over18 lying a non-Federal mineral estate, but some portion 

19 of the wellbore enters and produces from the Fed20 eral mineral estate subject to the lease; or 

21 (3) the well is located on non-Federal land over22 lying a non-Federal mineral estate, but some portion 

23 of the wellbore traverses but does not produce from 

24 the Federal mineral estate subject to the lease. 


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1 (b) NOTIFICATION.—For each State permit to drill 

2 or drilling plan that would impact or extract oil and gas 

3 owned by the Federal Government— 

4 (1) each lessee of Federal minerals in the unit, 

5 or designee of a lessee, shall— 

6 (A) notify the Secretary of the Interior of 

7 the submission of a State application for a per8 mit to drill or drilling plan on submission of the 

9 application; and 

10 (B) provide a copy of the application de11 scribed in subparagraph (A) to the Secretary of 

12 the Interior not later than 5 days after the date 

13 on which the permit or plan is submitted; 

14 (2) each lessee, designee of a lessee, or applica15 ble State shall notify the Secretary of the Interior of 

16 the approved State permit to drill or drilling plan 

17 not later than 45 days after the date on which the 

18 permit or plan is approved; and 

19 (3) each lessee or designee of a lessee shall pro20 vide, prior to commencing drilling operations, agree21 ments authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to 

22 enter non-Federal land, as necessary, for inspection 

23 and enforcement of the terms of the Federal lease. 

24 (c) NONAPPLICABILITY TO INDIAN LANDS.—Sub25 section (a) shall not apply to Indian lands (as defined in 


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1 section 3 of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management 

2 Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1702)). 

3 (d) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section affects— 

4 (1) other authorities of the Secretary of the In5 terior under the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Man6 agement Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 

7 (2) the amount of royalties due to the Federal 

8 Government from the production of the Federal min9 erals within the oil and gas drilling or spacing unit. 

10 (e) AUTHORITY ON NON-FEDERAL LAND.—Section 

11 17(g) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(g)) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) by striking the subsection designation and 

14 all that follows through ‘‘Secretary of the Interior, 

15 or’’ in the first sentence and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(g)(1) The Secretary of the Interior, or’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(2)(A) In the case of an oil and gas lease under this 

19 Act on land described in subparagraph (B) located within 

20 an oil and gas drilling or spacing unit, nothing in this Act 

21 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior— 

22 ‘‘(i) to require a bond to protect non-Federal 

23 land; 

24 ‘‘(ii) to enter non-Federal land without the con25 sent of the applicable landowner; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) to impose mitigation requirements; or 

2 ‘‘(iv) to require approval for surface reclama3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(B) Land referred to in subparagraph (A) is land 

5 where— 

6 ‘‘(i) the Federal Government— 

7 ‘‘(I) owns less than 50 percent of the min8 erals within the oil and gas drilling or spacing 

9 unit; and 

10 ‘‘(II) does not own or lease the surface es11 tate within the area directly impacted by the 

12 action; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the well is located on non-Federal land 

14 overlying a non-Federal mineral estate, but some 

15 portion of the wellbore enters and produces from the 

16 Federal mineral estate subject to the lease; or 

17 ‘‘(iii) the well is located on non-Federal land 

18 overlying a non-Federal mineral estate, but some 

19 portion of the wellbore traverses but does not 

20 produce from the Federal mineral estate subject to 

21 the lease.’’. 

22 SEC. 204. COAL LEASES ON FEDERAL LAND. 

23 (a) DEADLINES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(a) of the Mineral 

25 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 201(a)) is amended— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, 

2 by striking ‘‘he shall, in his discretion, upon the 

3 request of any qualified applicant or on his own 

4 motion from time to time’’ and insert ‘‘the Sec5 retary shall, at the discretion of the Secretary 

6 but subject to paragraph (6), on the request of 

7 any qualified applicant or on a motion by the 

8 Secretary’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(6) DEADLINES.— 

11 ‘‘(A) APPLICANT MOTION.—Not later than 

12 90 days after the date on which a request of a 

13 qualified applicant is received for a lease sale 

14 under paragraph (1), or for a lease modification 

15 under section 3, the Secretary of the Interior 

16 shall commence all necessary consultations and 

17 reviews required under Federal law in accord18 ance with that paragraph or section, as applica19 ble. 

20 ‘‘(B) DECISION.—Not later than 90 days 

21 after the completion of an environmental impact 

22 statement or environmental assessment con23 sistent with the requirements of the National 

24 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

25 4321 et seq.) for a lease sale under paragraph 


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1 (1), or for a lease modification under section 3, 

2 the Secretary of the Interior shall issue a 

3 record of decision or a finding of no significant 

4 impact for the lease sale or lease modification. 

5 ‘‘(C) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—Not later 

6 than 30 days after the date on which the Sec7 retary of the Interior issues a record of decision 

8 or a finding of no significant impact under sub9 paragraph (B) for a lease sale under paragraph 

10 (1), or for a lease modification under section 3, 

11 the Secretary shall determine the fair market 

12 value of the coal subject to the lease.’’. 

13 (2) LEASE MODIFICATIONS.—Section 3(b) of 

14 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 203(b)) is 

15 amended by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall prescribe’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘Subject to section 2(a)(6), the Sec17 retary shall prescribe’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2(a)(1) of 

19 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 201(a)(1)) is amend20 ed— 

21 (1) in the first sentence— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘he finds appropriate’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘the Secretary of the Interior finds 

24 appropriate’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘he deems appropriate’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘the Secretary of the Interior de3 termines to be appropriate’’; 

4 (2) in the sixth sentence, by striking ‘‘Prior to 

5 his determination’’ and inserting ‘‘Prior to a deter6 mination by the Secretary of the Interior’’; 

7 (3) in the seventh sentence— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘to make public his judg9 ment’’ and inserting ‘‘to make public the judg10 ment of the Secretary of the Interior’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘comments he receives’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘comments received by the Sec13 retary of the Interior’’; and 

14 (4) in the eighth sentence, by striking ‘‘He is 

15 hereby authorized’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of 

16 the Interior is authorized’’. 

17 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 2(b)(3) of the 

18 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 201(b)(3)) is amended, 

19 in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘geophyscal’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘geophysical’’. 

21 SEC. 205. RIGHTS-OF-WAY ACROSS INDIAN LAND. 

22 The first section of the Act of February 5, 1948 (62 

23 Stat. 17, chapter 45; 25 U.S.C. 323), is amended by add24 ing at the end the following: ‘‘Any right-of-way granted 

25 by an Indian tribe for the purposes authorized under this 


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1 section shall not require the approval of the Secretary of 

2 the Interior, on the condition that the right-of-way ap3 proval process by the Indian tribe substantially complies 

4 with subsection (h) of the first section of the Act of Au5 gust 9, 1955 (69 Stat. 539, chapter 615; 25 U.S.C. 

6 415(h)) or the Indian tribe has approved regulations 

7 under paragraph (1) of that subsection.’’. 

8 SEC. 206. ACCELERATING RENEWABLE ENERGY PERMIT9 TING. 

10 (a) DEADLINE FOR CONSIDERATION OF APPLICA11 TIONS FOR RIGHTS-OF-WAY.— 

12 (1) COMPLETENESS OF REVIEW.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 

14 after the date on which the Secretary of the In15 terior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as appli16 cable, receives an application for a right-of-way 

17 under section 501 of the Federal Land Policy 

18 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) 

19 for an eligible project (as defined in section 

20 3101 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 

21 3001)), the applicable Secretary shall— 

22 (i) notify the applicant that the appli23 cation is complete; or 

24 (ii) notify the applicant that informa25 tion is missing from the application and 


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1 specify any information that is required to 

2 be submitted for the application to be com3 plete. 

4 (B) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE5 MENT.—For an eligible project (as defined in 

6 section 3101 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 

7 U.S.C. 3001)) that requires an environmental 

8 impact statement for an application submitted 

9 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of the 

10 Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as ap11 plicable, shall issue a notice of intent not later 

12 than 90 days after the date on which the appli13 cable Secretary determines that an application 

14 is complete under subparagraph (A). 

15 (2) COST RECOVERY AND ISSUANCE OR DEFER16 RAL.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 

18 after the date on which an applicant submits a 

19 complete application for a right-of-way under 

20 paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Interior or 

21 the Secretary of Agriculture, as applicable, 

22 shall, if a cost recovery agreement is required 

23 under section 2804.14 of title 43, Code of Fed24 eral Regulations (or successor regulations), or 

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1 ulations (or successor regulations), issue a cost 

2 recovery agreement. 

3 (B) DECISION.—Not later than 30 days 

4 after the date on which an applicant submits a 

5 complete application for a right-of-way under 

6 paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Interior or 

7 the Secretary of Agriculture, as applicable, 

8 shall— 

9 (i) grant or deny the application, if 

10 the requirements under the National Envi11 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

12 4321 et seq.) and any other applicable law 

13 have been completed; or 

14 (ii) defer the decision on the applica15 tion and provide to the applicant notice— 

16 (I) that specifies steps that the 

17 applicant can take for the decision on 

18 the application to be issued; and 

19 (II) of a list of actions that need 

20 to be taken by the agency in order to 

21 comply with applicable law, and 

22 timelines and deadlines for completing 

23 those actions. 

24 (b) LOW DISTURBANCE ACTIVITIES FOR RENEW25 ABLE ENERGY PROJECTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, to facilitate 

3 timely permitting of eligible projects (as defined in 

4 section 3101 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 

5 3001)), the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec6 retary of Agriculture shall each promulgate regula7 tions for the use of 1 or more categorical exclusions 

8 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

9 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for low disturbance 

10 activities necessary for renewable energy projects. 

11 (2) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—Low disturbance 

12 activities referred to in paragraph (1) are the fol13 lowing: 

14 (A) Individual surface disturbances of less 

15 than 5 acres that have undergone site-specific 

16 analysis in a document prepared pursuant to 

17 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

18 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) that has been pre19 viously completed. 

20 (B) Activities at a location at which the 

21 same type of activity has previously occurred 

22 within 5 years prior to the date of commence23 ment of the activity. 

24 (C) Activities on previously disturbed or 

25 developed (as defined in section 1021.410(g)(1) 


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1 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc2 cessor regulations)) land for which an approved 

3 land use plan or any environmental document 

4 prepared pursuant to the National Environ5 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

6 seq.) analyzed such activity as reasonably fore7 seeable, so long as such plan or document was 

8 approved within 5 years prior to the date of the 

9 activity. 

10 (D) The installation, modification, oper11 ation, or decommissioning of commercially 

12 available energy systems located on a building 

13 or other structure (such as a rooftop, parking 

14 lot, or facility, or mounted to signage, lighting, 

15 gates, or fences). 

16 (E) Maintenance of a minor activity, other 

17 than any construction or major renovation, or a 

18 building or facility. 

19 (F) Preliminary geotechnical investiga20 tions. 

21 (G) The installation and removal of tem22 porary meteorological stations. 


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1 SEC. 207. IMPROVING RENEWABLE ENERGY COORDINA2 TION ON FEDERAL LAND. 

3 (a) NATIONAL GOAL FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PRO4 DUCTION ON FEDERAL LAND.— 

5 (1) GOAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, in accordance with 

7 section 3104 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 

8 3004), the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 

9 with the Secretary of Agriculture and other heads of 

10 relevant Federal agencies, shall establish a target 

11 date for the authorization of not less than 50 

12 gigawatts of renewable energy production on Federal 

13 land by not later than 2030. 

14 (2) PERIODIC GOAL REVISION.—Section 3104 

15 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 3004) is 

16 amended— 

17 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘and pe18 riodically revise’’ after ‘‘establish’’; and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(c) PERMITTING.—Subject to the limitations de21 scribed in section 50265(b)(1) of Public Law 117–169 (43 

22 U.S.C. 3006(b)(1)), the Secretary shall, in consultation 

23 with the heads of relevant Federal agencies, seek to issue 

24 permits that authorize, in total, sufficient electricity from 

25 eligible projects to meet or exceed the national goals estab26 lished and revised under this section.’’. 


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1 (b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—Paragraph 

2 (4) of section 3101 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 

3 3001) is amended by inserting ‘‘or store’’ after ‘‘gen4 erate’’. 

5 (c) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT REVIEW STAND6 ARDS.—Section 3102 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 

7 U.S.C. 3002) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a), in the second sentence, by 

9 inserting ‘‘sufficient to achieve goals for renewable 

10 energy production on Federal land established under 

11 section 3104’’ before the period at the end; 

12 (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub13 section (h); and 

14 (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(f) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT REVIEW STAND17 ARDS.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

18 of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, for the pur19 pose of encouraging standardized reviews and facilitating 

20 the permitting of eligible projects, the National Renewable 

21 Energy Coordination Office of the Bureau of Land Man22 agement shall promulgate renewable energy project review 

23 standards to be adopted by regional renewable energy co24 ordination offices. 


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1 ‘‘(g) CLARIFICATION OF EXISTING AUTHORITY.— 

2 Under section 307 of the Federal Land Policy and Man3 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1737), the Secretary may 

4 accept donations from renewable energy companies to im5 prove community engagement for the permitting of energy 

6 projects.’’. 

7 (d) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section, or an 

8 amendment made by this section, modifies the limitations 

9 described in section 50265(b)(1) of Public Law 117–169 

10 (43 U.S.C. 3006(b)(1)). 

11 SEC. 208. GEOTHERMAL LEASING AND PERMITTING IM12 PROVEMENTS. 

13 (a) PRELIMINARY GEOTHERMAL ACTIVITIES.—Not 

14 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

15 Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Ag16 riculture shall each promulgate regulations for the use of 

17 1 or more categorical exclusions under the National Envi18 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

19 for individual disturbances of less than 10 acres for activi20 ties required to test, monitor, calibrate, explore, or confirm 

21 geothermal resources, provided those activities do not in22 volve— 

23 (1) the commercial production of geothermal re24 sources; 


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1 (2) the use of geothermal resources for com2 mercial operations; or 

3 (3) construction of permanent roads. 

4 (b) ANNUAL LEASING.—Section 4(b) of the Geo5 thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘every 2 

8 years’’ and inserting ‘‘per year’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(5) REPLACEMENT SALES.—If a lease sale 

11 under this section for a year is cancelled or delayed, 

12 the Secretary shall conduct a replacement sale not 

13 later than 180 days after the date of the cancellation 

14 or delay, as applicable, and the replacement sale 

15 may not be cancelled or delayed.’’. 

16 (c) DEADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEO17 THERMAL DRILLING PERMITS.—Section 4 of the Geo18 thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003) is amended 

19 by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(h) DEADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEO21 THERMAL DRILLING PERMITS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days 

23 after the date on which the Secretary receives an ap24 plication for any geothermal drilling permit, the Sec25 retary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) provide written notice to the appli2 cant that the application is complete; or 

3 ‘‘(B) notify the applicant that information 

4 is missing from the application and specify any 

5 information that is required to be submitted for 

6 the application to be complete. 

7 ‘‘(2) DECISION.—Not later than 30 days after 

8 the date on which an applicant submits a complete 

9 application for a geothermal drilling permit under 

10 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) grant or deny the application, if the 

12 requirements under the National Environmental 

13 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

14 and any other applicable law have been com15 pleted; or 

16 ‘‘(B) defer the decision on the application 

17 and provide to the applicant notice— 

18 ‘‘(i) that specifies steps that the appli19 cant can take for the decision on the appli20 cation to be issued; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) of a list of actions that need to 

22 be taken by the agency in order to comply 

23 with applicable law, and timelines and 

24 deadlines for completing those actions.’’. 


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1 (d) COST RECOVERY AUTHORITY.—Section 24 of the 

2 Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1023) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) by striking the section designation and all 

5 that follows through ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 24. RULES AND REGULATIONS. 

8 ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The 

10 Secretary shall, not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of enactment of the Energy Permitting Reform 

12 Act of 2024, promulgate rules for cost recovery, to 

13 be paid by permit applicants or lessees, to facilitate 

14 the timely coordination and processing of leases, per15 mits, and authorizations and to reimburse the Sec16 retary for all reasonable administrative costs in17 curred from the inspection and monitoring of activi18 ties thereunder.’’. 

19 (e) FEDERAL PERMITTING PROCESS.—Not later 

20 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

21 Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate regulations and 

22 establish a Federal permitting process to allow for simul23 taneous, concurrent consideration of multiple phases of a 

24 geothermal project, including— 

25 (1) surface exploration; 


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1 (2) geophysical exploration; 

2 (3) drilling; and 

3 (4) power plant construction. 

4 (f) GEOTHERMAL PRODUCTION PARITY.—Section 

5 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15942) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘(NEPA)’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (referred to in this 

10 section as ‘NEPA’)’’; 

11 (B) by inserting ‘‘(30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.)’’ 

12 after ‘‘Mineral Leasing Act’’; and 

13 (C) by inserting ‘‘, or the Geothermal 

14 Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) for 

15 the purpose of exploration or development of 

16 geothermal resources’’ before the period at the 

17 end; and 

18 (2) in subsection (b)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘oil or 

20 gas’’ and inserting ‘‘oil, gas, or geothermal re21 sources’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘oil or 

23 gas’’ and inserting ‘‘oil, gas, or geothermal re24 sources’’. 

25 (g) GEOTHERMAL OMBUDSMAN.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

3 the Interior shall appoint within the Bureau of Land 

4 Management a Geothermal Ombudsman. 

5 (2) DUTIES.—The Geothermal Ombudsman ap6 pointed under paragraph (1) shall— 

7 (A) act as a liaison between the individual 

8 field offices of the Bureau of Land Manage9 ment and the Director of the Bureau of Land 

10 Management; 

11 (B) provide dispute resolution services be12 tween the individual field offices of the Bureau 

13 of Land Management and applicants for geo14 thermal resource permits; 

15 (C) monitor and facilitate permit proc16 essing practices and timelines across individual 

17 field offices of the Bureau of Land Manage18 ment; 

19 (D) develop best practices for the permit20 ting and leasing process for geothermal re21 sources; and 

22 (E) coordinate with the Federal Permitting 

23 Improvement Steering Council. 

24 (3) REPORT.—The Geothermal Ombudsman 

25 shall submit to the Committee on Energy and NatVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 ural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 

2 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

3 an annual report that describes the activities of the 

4 Geothermal Ombudsman and evaluates the effective5 ness of geothermal permit processing during the pre6 ceding 1-year period. 

7 SEC. 209. ELECTRIC GRID PROJECTS. 

8 (a) DEFINITION OF PREVIOUSLY DISTURBED OR DE9 VELOPED.—In this section, the term ‘‘previously disturbed 

10 or developed’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

11 1021.410(g)(1) of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations 

12 (or successor regulations). 

13 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, to facilitate timely permit15 ting, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

16 Agriculture shall each promulgate regulations for the use 

17 of 1 or more categorical exclusions under the National En18 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

19 for the following activities: 

20 (1) Placement of an electric transmission or 

21 distribution facility in an approved right-of-way cor22 ridor, if the corridor was approved during the 5-year 

23 period ending on the date of placement of the facil24 ity. 


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1 (2) Any repair, maintenance, replacement, up2 grade, modification, optimization, or minor reloca3 tion of, or addition to, an existing electric trans4 mission or distribution facility or associated infra5 structure within an existing right-of-way or on oth6 erwise previously disturbed or developed land, in7 cluding reconductoring and installation of grid-en8 hancing technologies. 

9 (3) Construction, operation, upgrade, or decom10 missioning of a battery or other energy storage tech11 nology on previously disturbed or developed land. 

12 SEC. 210. HARDROCK MINING MILL SITES. 

13 (a) MULTIPLE MILL SITES.—Section 2337 of the Re14 vised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 42) is amended by adding at 

15 the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL MILL SITES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

18 ‘‘(A) MILL SITE.—The term ‘mill site’ 

19 means a location of public land that is reason20 ably necessary for waste rock or tailings dis21 posal or other operations reasonably incident to 

22 mineral development on, or production from 

23 land included in a plan of operations. 

24 ‘‘(B) OPERATIONS; OPERATOR.—The 

25 terms ‘operations’ and ‘operator’ have the 


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1 meanings given those terms in section 3809.5 

2 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 

3 effect on the date of enactment of this sub4 section). 

5 ‘‘(C) PLAN OF OPERATIONS.—The term 

6 ‘plan of operations’ means a plan of operations 

7 that an operator must submit and the Secretary 

8 of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, 

9 as applicable, must approve before an operator 

10 may begin operations, in accordance with, as 

11 applicable— 

12 ‘‘(i) subpart 3809 of title 43, Code of 

13 Federal Regulations (or successor regula14 tions establishing application and approval 

15 requirements); and 

16 ‘‘(ii) part 228 of title 36, Code of 

17 Federal Regulations (or successor regula18 tions establishing application and approval 

19 requirements). 

20 ‘‘(D) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘public 

21 land’ means land owned by the United States 

22 that is open to location under sections 2319 

23 through 2344 of the Revised Statutes (30 

24 U.S.C. 22 et seq.), including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) land that is mineral-in-character 

2 (as defined in section 3830.5 of title 43, 

3 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect 

4 on the date of enactment of this sub5 section)); 

6 ‘‘(ii) nonmineral land (as defined in 

7 section 3830.5 of title 43, Code of Federal 

8 Regulations (as in effect on the date of en9 actment of this subsection)); and 

10 ‘‘(iii) land where the mineral char11 acter has not been determined. 

12 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub13 sections (a) and (b), where public land is needed by 

14 the proprietor of a lode or placer claim for oper15 ations in connection with any lode or placer claim 

16 within the proposed plan of operations, the propri17 etor may— 

18 ‘‘(A) locate and include within the plan of 

19 operations as many mill site claims under this 

20 subsection as are reasonably necessary for its 

21 operations; and 

22 ‘‘(B) use or occupy public land in accord23 ance with an approved plan of operations. 


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1 ‘‘(3) MILL SITES CONVEY NO MINERAL

2 RIGHTS.—A mill site under this subsection does not 

3 convey mineral rights to the locator. 

4 ‘‘(4) SIZE OF MILL SITES.—A location of a sin5 gle mill site under this subsection shall not exceed 

6 5 acres. 

7 ‘‘(5) MILL SITE AND LODE OR PLACER CLAIMS

8 ON SAME TRACTS OF PUBLIC LAND.—A mill site 

9 may be located under this subsection on a tract of 

10 public land on which the claimant or operator main11 tains a previously located lode or placer claim. 

12 ‘‘(6) EFFECT ON MINING CLAIMS.—The loca13 tion of a mill site under this subsection shall not af14 fect the validity of any lode or placer claim, or any 

15 rights associated with such a claim. 

16 ‘‘(7) PATENTING.—A mill site under this sec17 tion shall not be eligible for patenting. 

18 ‘‘(8) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Nothing in this 

19 subsection— 

20 ‘‘(A) diminishes any right (including a 

21 right of entry, use, or occupancy) of a claimant; 

22 ‘‘(B) creates or increases any right (includ23 ing a right of exploration, entry, use, or occu24 pancy) of a claimant on land that is not open 

25 to location under the general mining laws; 


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1 ‘‘(C) modifies any provision of law or any 

2 prior administrative action withdrawing land 

3 from location or entry; 

4 ‘‘(D) limits the right of the Federal Gov5 ernment to regulate mining and mining-related 

6 activities (including requiring claim validity ex7 aminations to establish the discovery of a valu8 able mineral deposit) in areas withdrawn from 

9 mining, including under— 

10 ‘‘(i) the general mining laws; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the Federal Land Policy and 

12 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 

13 et seq.); 

14 ‘‘(iii) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

15 1131 et seq.); 

16 ‘‘(iv) sections 100731 through 100737 

17 of title 54, United States Code; 

18 ‘‘(v) the Endangered Species Act of 

19 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

20 ‘‘(vi) division A of subtitle III of title 

21 54, United States Code (commonly re22 ferred to as the ‘National Historic Preser23 vation Act’); or 

24 ‘‘(vii) section 4 of the Act of July 23, 

25 1955 (commonly known as the ‘Surface 


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1 Resources Act of 1955’) (69 Stat. 368, 

2 chapter 375; 30 U.S.C. 612); 

3 ‘‘(E) restores any right (including a right 

4 of entry, use, or occupancy, or right to conduct 

5 operations) of a claimant that— 

6 ‘‘(i) existed prior to the date on which 

7 the land was closed to, or withdrawn from, 

8 location under the general mining laws; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii) that has been extinguished by 

11 such closure or withdrawal; or 

12 ‘‘(F) modifies section 404 of division E of 

13 the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 

14 (Public Law 118–42).’’. 

15 (b) ABANDONED HARDROCK MINE FUND.— 

16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

17 the Treasury of the United States a separate ac18 count, to be known as the ‘‘Abandoned Hardrock 

19 Mine Fund’’ (referred to in this subsection as the 

20 ‘‘Fund’’). 

21 (2) SOURCE OF DEPOSITS.—Any amounts col22 lected by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to 

23 the claim maintenance fee under section 10101(a)(1) 

24 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 

25 (30 U.S.C. 28f(a)(1)) on mill sites located under 


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1 subsection (c) of section 2337 of the Revised Stat2 utes (30 U.S.C. 42) shall be deposited into the 

3 Fund. 

4 (3) USE.—The Secretary of the Interior may 

5 make expenditures from amounts available in the 

6 Fund, without further appropriations, only to carry 

7 out section 40704 of the Infrastructure Investment 

8 and Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1245). 

9 (4) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Amounts made 

10 available under paragraph (3)— 

11 (A) shall be allocated in accordance with 

12 section 40704(e)(1) of the Infrastructure In13 vestment and Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1245(e)(1)); 

14 and 

15 (B) may be transferred in accordance with 

16 section 40704(e)(2) of that Act (30 U.S.C. 

17 1245(e)(2)). 

18 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 10101 of the 

19 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 

20 28f) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘the Mining Law of 1872 (30 

22 U.S.C. 28–28e)’’ each place it appears and inserting 

23 ‘‘sections 2319 through 2344 of the Revised Stat24 utes (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.)’’; 

25 (2) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

3 ‘‘Such claim maintenance fee’’ and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(B) FEE.—The claim maintenance fee 

6 under subparagraph (A)’’; and 

7 (ii) in the first sentence, by striking 

8 ‘‘The holder of’’ and inserting the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The holder of’’; and 

11 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

12 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

13 ‘‘Such claim maintenance fee’’ and insert14 ing the following: 

15 ‘‘(B) FEE.—The claim maintenance fee 

16 under subparagraph (A)’’; and 

17 (ii) in the first sentence, by striking 

18 ‘‘The holder of’’ and inserting the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The holder of’’; and 

21 (3) in subsection (b)— 

22 (A) in the second sentence, by striking 

23 ‘‘The location fee’’ and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) FEE.—The location fee’’; and 


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1 (B) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

2 claim main tenance fee’’ and inserting the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The claim maintenance 

5 fee’’. 

6 TITLE III—FEDERAL OFFSHORE 

7 ENERGY LEASING AND PER8 MITTING 

9 SEC. 301. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 

10 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding the 2024– 

11 2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leas12 ing Program (and any successor leasing program that does 

13 not satisfy the requirements of this section), the Secretary 

14 of the Interior (referred to in this title as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

15 shall conduct not less than 1 oil and gas lease sale in each 

16 of calendar years 2025 through 2029, each of which shall 

17 be conducted not later than August 31 of the applicable 

18 calendar year. 

19 (b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary 

20 shall— 

21 (1) conduct offshore oil and gas lease sales of 

22 sufficient acreage to meet the conditions described in 

23 section 50265(b)(2) of Public Law 117–169 (43 

24 U.S.C. 3006(b)(2)); 


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1 (2) with respect to an oil and gas lease sale 

2 conducted under subsection (a), offer the same lease 

3 form, lease terms, economic conditions, and stipula4 tions as contained in the revised final notice of sale 

5 entitled ‘‘Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil 

6 and Gas Lease Sale 261’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 80750 (No7 vember 20, 2023)); and 

8 (3) if any acceptable bids have been received for 

9 any tract offered in an oil and gas lease sale con10 ducted under subsection (a), issue such leases not 

11 later than 90 days after the lease sale to the highest 

12 bids on the tracts offered, subject to the procedures 

13 described in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage14 ment document entitled ‘‘Summary of Procedures 

15 for Determining Bid Adequacy at Offshore Oil and 

16 Gas Lease Sales Effective March 2016, with Central 

17 Gulf of Mexico Sale 241 and Eastern Gulf of Mexico 

18 Sale 226’’. 

19 SEC. 302. OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY. 

20 (a) OFFSHORE WIND LEASE SALE REQUIREMENT.— 

21 Effective on the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec22 retary shall— 

23 (1) subject to the limitations described in sec24 tion 50265(b)(2) of Public Law 117–169 (43 U.S.C. 

25 3006(b)(2)), conduct not less than 1 offshore wind 


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1 lease sale in each of calendar years 2025 through 

2 2029, each of which shall be conducted not later 

3 than August 31 of the applicable calendar year; and 

4 (2) if any acceptable bids have been received for 

5 a tract offered in the lease sale, as determined by 

6 the Secretary, issue such leases not later than 90 

7 days after the lease sale to the highest bidder on the 

8 offered tract. 

9 (b) AREA OFFERED FOR LEASING.— 

10 (1) TOTAL ACRES FOR LEASE.—Subject to 

11 paragraph (2), the Secretary shall offer for offshore 

12 wind leasing a sum total of not less than 400,000 

13 acres per calendar year. 

14 (2) MINIMUM ACREAGE.—An offshore wind 

15 lease issued by the Secretary that is less than 

16 80,000 acres shall not be counted toward the acre17 age requirement under paragraph (1). 

18 (c) PRODUCTION GOAL FOR OFFSHORE WIND EN19 ERGY.— 

20 (1) INITIAL GOAL.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec22 retary shall establish an initial target date for an 

23 offshore wind energy production goal of 30 

24 gigawatts. 


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1 (2) PERIODIC GOAL REVISION.—The Secretary 

2 shall, in consultation with the heads of other rel3 evant Federal agencies, periodically revise national 

4 goals for offshore wind energy production on the 

5 outer Continental Shelf as initially established under 

6 paragraph (1). 

7 (d) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT.—Sec8 tion 8(p) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

9 U.S.C. 1337(p)) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking paragraph (10) and inserting 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(10) APPLICABILITY.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

14 subparagraph (B), this subsection does not 

15 apply to any area on the outer Continental 

16 Shelf within the exterior boundaries of any unit 

17 of the National Park System, the National 

18 Wildlife Refuge System, the National Marine 

19 Sanctuary System, or any National Monument. 

20 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub21 paragraph (A), the Secretary, in consultation 

22 with the Secretary of Commerce under section 

23 304(d) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act 

24 (16 U.S.C. 1434(d)), may grant rights-of-way 

25 on the outer Continental Shelf within units of 


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1 the National Marine Sanctuary System for the 

2 transmission of electricity generated by or pro3 duced from renewable energy.’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(11) DURATION OF PERMITS IN MARINE SANC6 TUARIES.—Notwithstanding section 310(c)(2) of the 

7 National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 

8 1441(c)(2)), any permit or authorization granted 

9 under that Act that authorizes the installation, oper10 ation, or maintenance of electric transmission cables 

11 on a right-of-way granted by the Secretary described 

12 in paragraph (10)(B) shall be issued for a term 

13 equal to the duration of the right-of-way granted by 

14 the Secretary.’’. 

15 (e) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section, or an 

16 amendment made by this section, modifies the limitations 

17 described in section 50265(b)(2) of Public Law 117–169 

18 (43 U.S.C. 3006(b)(2)). 

19 TITLE IV—ELECTRIC 

20 TRANSMISSION 

21 SEC. 401. TRANSMISSION PERMITTING. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 216 of the Federal Power 

23 Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended by striking subsection 

24 (a) and inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 

2 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

3 ‘‘(2) IMPROVED RELIABILITY.—The term ‘im4 proved reliability’ has the meaning given the term in 

5 section 225(a). 

6 ‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

7 the Secretary of Energy. 

8 ‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION PLANNING REGION.—The 

9 term ‘transmission planning region’ has the meaning 

10 given the term in section 225(a).’’. 

11 (b) CONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—Section 216(b) of the 

12 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(b)) is amended— 

13 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

14 striking ‘‘Except’’ and all that follows through 

15 ‘‘finds that’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

16 subsections (d)(1) and (i), the Commission may, 

17 after notice and an opportunity for hearing, issue 

18 one or more permits for the construction or modi19 fication of electric transmission facilities necessary 

20 in the national interest if the Commission finds 

21 that’’; 

22 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

23 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting 

24 ‘‘or modification’’ after ‘‘siting’’; and 

25 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 


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1 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

2 by inserting ‘‘or modification’’ after 

3 ‘‘siting’’; and 

4 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the later 

5 of’’ in the matter preceding subclause (I) 

6 and all that follows through the semicolon 

7 at the end of subclause (II) and inserting 

8 ‘‘the date on which the application was 

9 filed with the State commission or other 

10 entity;’’; and 

11 (3) by striking paragraphs (2) through (6) and 

12 inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(2) the proposed facilities will be used for the 

14 transmission of electric energy in interstate (includ15 ing transmission from the outer Continental Shelf to 

16 a State) or foreign commerce; 

17 ‘‘(3) the proposed construction or modification 

18 is consistent with the public interest; 

19 ‘‘(4) the proposed construction or modification 

20 will significantly reduce transmission congestion in 

21 interstate commerce, protect or benefit consumers, 

22 and provide improved reliability; 

23 ‘‘(5) the proposed construction or modification 

24 is consistent with sound national energy policy and 

25 will enhance energy independence; 


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1 ‘‘(6) the electric transmission facilities are ca2 pable of transmitting electric energy at a voltage of 

3 not less than 100 kilovolts or, in the case of facilities 

4 that include advanced transmission conductors (in5 cluding superconductors), as defined by the Commis6 sion, voltages determined to be appropriate by the 

7 Commission; and 

8 ‘‘(7) the proposed modification (including 

9 reconductoring) will maximize, to the extent reason10 able and economical, the transmission capabilities of 

11 existing towers, structures, or rights-of-way.’’. 

12 (c) STATE SITING AND CONSULTATION.—Section 

13 216 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amend14 ed by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(d) STATE SITING AND CONSULTATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) PRESERVATION OF STATE SITING AUTHOR17 ITY.—The Commission shall have no authority to 

18 issue a permit under subsection (b) for the construc19 tion or modification of an electric transmission facil20 ity within a State except as provided in paragraph 

21 (1) of that subsection. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In any proceeding be23 fore the Commission under subsection (b), the Com24 mission shall afford each State in which a trans25 mission facility covered by the permit is or will be 


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1 located, each affected Federal agency and Indian 

2 Tribe, private property owners, and other interested 

3 persons, a reasonable opportunity to present their 

4 views and recommendations with respect to the need 

5 for and impact of a facility covered by the permit.’’. 

6 (d) RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Section 216(e)(3) of the Fed7 eral Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(e)(3)) is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘shall conform’’ and all that follows through the 

9 period at the end and inserting ‘‘shall be in accordance 

10 with rule 71.1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.’’. 

11 (e) COST ALLOCATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 216 of the Federal 

13 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended by striking 

14 subsection (f) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(f) COST ALLOCATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION TARIFFS.—For the pur17 poses of this section, any transmitting utility that 

18 owns, controls, or operates electric transmission fa19 cilities that the Commission finds to be consistent 

20 with the findings under paragraphs (2) through (6) 

21 and, if applicable, (7) of subsection (b) shall file a 

22 tariff or tariff revision with the Commission pursu23 ant to section 205 and the regulations of the Com24 mission allocating the costs of the new or modified 

25 transmission facilities. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION BENEFITS.—The Commis2 sion shall require that tariffs or tariff revisions filed 

3 under this subsection are just and reasonable and al4 locate the costs of providing service to customers 

5 that benefit, in accordance with the cost-causation 

6 principle, including through— 

7 ‘‘(A) improved reliability; 

8 ‘‘(B) reduced congestion; 

9 ‘‘(C) reduced power losses; 

10 ‘‘(D) greater carrying capacity; 

11 ‘‘(E) reduced operating reserve require12 ments; and 

13 ‘‘(F) improved access to lower cost genera14 tion that achieves reductions in the cost of de15 livered power. 

16 ‘‘(3) RATEPAYER PROTECTION.—Customers 

17 that receive no benefit, or benefits that are trivial in 

18 relation to the costs sought to be allocated, from 

19 electric transmission facilities constructed or modi20 fied under this section shall not be involuntarily allo21 cated any of the costs of those transmission facili22 ties.’’. 

23 (2) SAVINGS PROVISION.—If the Federal En24 ergy Regulatory Commission finds that the consider25 ations under paragraphs (2) through (6) and, if apVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 plicable, (7) of subsection (b) of section 216 of the 

2 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) (as amended 

3 by subsection (b)) are met, nothing in this section 

4 or the amendments made by this section shall be 

5 construed to exclude transmission facilities located 

6 on the outer Continental Shelf from being eligible 

7 for cost allocation established under subsection 

8 (f)(1) of that section (as amended by paragraph 

9 (1)). 

10 (f) COORDINATION OF FEDERAL AUTHORIZATIONS

11 FOR TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.—Section 216(h) of the 

12 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(h)) is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

14 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, except that— 

15 ‘‘(A) the Commission shall act as the lead agen16 cy in the case of facilities permitted under sub17 section (b) and section 225; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the Department of the Interior shall act 

19 as the lead agency in the case of facilities located on 

20 a lease, easement, or right-of-way granted by the 

21 Secretary of the Interior under section 8(p)(1)(C) of 

22 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

23 1337(p)(1)(C)).’’; 

24 (2) in each of paragraphs (3), (4)(B), (4)(C), 

25 (5)(B), (6)(A), (7)(A), (7)(B)(i), (8)(A)(i), and (9), 


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1 by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it appears and in2 serting ‘‘lead agency’’; 

3 (3) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘As head 

4 of the lead agency, the Secretary’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘The lead agency’’; 

6 (4) in paragraph (5)(A), by striking ‘‘As lead 

7 agency head, the Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘The lead 

8 agency’’; and 

9 (5) in paragraph (7)— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘18 

11 months after the date of enactment of this sec12 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘18 months after the date 

13 of enactment of the Energy Permitting Reform 

14 Act of 2024’’; and 

15 (B) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ‘‘1 

16 year after the date of enactment of this sec17 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘18 months after the date 

18 of enactment of the Energy Permitting Reform 

19 Act of 2024’’. 

20 (g) INTERSTATE COMPACTS.—Section 216(i) of the 

21 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(i)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, including 

23 facilities in national interest electric transmission 

24 corridors’’; and 

25 (2) in paragraph (4)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 

2 and’’ and inserting a period; 

3 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

4 (C) by striking ‘‘in disagreement’’ in the 

5 matter preceding subparagraph (A) and all that 

6 follows through ‘‘(A) the’’ in subparagraph (A) 

7 and inserting ‘‘unable to reach an agreement on 

8 an application seeking approval by the’’. 

9 (h) TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE INVEST10 MENT.—Section 219(b)(4) of the Federal Power Act (16 

11 U.S.C. 824s(b)(4)) is amended— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

13 after the semicolon at the end; 

14 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

15 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(C) all prudently incurred costs associ18 ated with payments to jurisdictions impacted by 

19 electric transmission facilities developed pursu20 ant to section 216 or 225.’’. 

21 (i) JURISDICTION.—Section 216 of the Federal 

22 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended by striking sub23 section (k) and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(k) JURISDICTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ERCOT.—This section shall not apply 

2 within the area referred to in section 212(k)(2)(A). 

3 ‘‘(2) OTHER UTILITIES.—For the purposes of 

4 this section, the Commission shall have jurisdiction 

5 over all transmitting utilities, including transmitting 

6 utilities described in section 201(f), but excluding 

7 any ERCOT utility (as defined in section 

8 212(k)(2)(B)).’’. 

9 (j) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (1) Section 50151(b) of Public Law 117–169 

11 (42 U.S.C. 18715(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘facili12 ties designated by the Secretary to be necessary in 

13 the national interest under section 216(a) of the 

14 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(a))’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘facilities in a geographic area identified under 

16 section 224 of the Federal Power Act’’. 

17 (2) Section 1222 of the Energy Policy Act of 

18 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16421) is amended— 

19 (A) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘in 

20 a national interest electric transmission corridor 

21 designated under section 216(a)’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘in a geographic area identified under section 

23 224’’; and 

24 (B) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘in 

25 an area designated under section 216(a)’’ and 


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1 inserting ‘‘in a geographic area identified under 

2 section 224’’. 

3 (3) Section 40106(h)(1)(A) of the Infrastruc4 ture Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 18713(h)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘in an area 

6 designated as a national interest electric trans7 mission corridor pursuant to section 216(a) of the 

8 Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 824p(a)’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘in a geographic area identified under section 

10 224 of the Federal Power Act’’. 

11 (k) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section or 

12 an amendment made by this section grants authority to 

13 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the 

14 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) over sales 

15 of electric energy at retail or the local distribution of elec16 tricity. 

17 SEC. 402. TRANSMISSION PLANNING. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of the Federal Power Act 

19 (16 U.S.C. 824 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 224. TRANSMISSION STUDY. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

23 date of enactment of this section and every 3 years there24 after, the Secretary of Energy (referred to in this section 

25 as the ‘Secretary’), in consultation with affected States 


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1 and Indian Tribes, shall conduct a study of electric trans2 mission capacity constraints and congestion. 

3 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not less frequently than once every 

4 3 years, the Secretary, after considering alternatives and 

5 recommendations from interested parties (including an op6 portunity for comment from affected States and Indian 

7 Tribes), shall issue a report, based on the study under 

8 subsection (a) or other information relating to electric 

9 transmission capacity constraints and congestion, which 

10 may identify any geographic area that— 

11 ‘‘(1) is experiencing electric energy transmission 

12 capacity constraints or congestion that adversely af13 fects consumers; or 

14 ‘‘(2) is expected to experience such energy 

15 transmission capacity constraints or congestion. 

16 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—Not less frequently than once 

17 every 3 years, the Secretary, in conducting the study 

18 under subsection (a) and issuing the report under sub19 section (b), shall consult with affected transmission plan20 ning regions (as defined in section 225(a)) and any appro21 priate regional entity referred to in section 215. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 225. PLANNING FOR TRANSMISSION FACILITIES THAT 

23 ENHANCE GRID RELIABILITY, AFFORD24 ABILITY, AND RESILIENCE. 

25 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 

2 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

3 ‘‘(2) ERO.—The term ‘ERO’ has the meaning 

4 given the term in section 215(a). 

5 ‘‘(3) IMPROVED RELIABILITY.—The term ‘im6 proved reliability’ means that, on balance, consid7 ering each of the matters described in subpara8 graphs (A) through (D), reliability is improved in a 

9 material manner that benefits customers through at 

10 least one of the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) facilitating compliance with a manda12 tory standard for reliability approved by the 

13 Commission under section 215; 

14 ‘‘(B) a reduction in expected unserved en15 ergy, loss of load hours, or loss of load prob16 ability (as defined by the ERO); 

17 ‘‘(C) facilitating compliance with a tariff 

18 requirement or process for resource adequacy 

19 on file with the Commission; and 

20 ‘‘(D) any other similar material improve21 ment, including a reduction in correlated outage 

22 risk, such as achieved through increased geo23 graphic or resource diversification. 


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1 ‘‘(4) INTERREGIONAL TRANSMISSION FACIL2 ITY.—The term ‘interregional transmission facility’ 

3 means a transmission facility that— 

4 ‘‘(A) is located within 2 or more neigh5 boring transmission planning regions; or 

6 ‘‘(B) significantly impacts the ability of 1 

7 or more transmission planning regions to trans8 mit electric energy among neighboring trans9 mission planning regions. 

10 ‘‘(5) TRANSMISSION PLANNING REGION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘trans12 mission planning region’— 

13 ‘‘(i) when used in a geographical 

14 sense, means a region for which the Com15 mission determines that electric trans16 mission planning is appropriate, such as a 

17 region established in accordance with 

18 Order No. 1000 of the Commission, enti19 tled ‘Transmission Planning and Cost Allo20 cation by Transmission Owning and Oper21 ating Public Utilities’ (76 Fed. Reg. 49842 

22 (August 11, 2011)); and 

23 ‘‘(ii) when used in a corporate sense, 

24 means the Transmission Organization or 

25 other entity responsible for planning or opVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 erating electric transmission facilities with2 in a region described in clause (i). 

3 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘trans4 mission planning region’ does not include the 

5 Electric Reliability Council of Texas or the re6 gion served by members of the Electric Reli7 ability Council of Texas. 

8 ‘‘(b) JURISDICTION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ERCOT.—This section shall not apply 

10 within the area referred to in section 212(k)(2)(A). 

11 ‘‘(2) OTHER UTILITIES.—For the purposes of 

12 this section, the Commission shall have jurisdiction 

13 over all transmitting utilities, including transmitting 

14 utilities described in section 201(f), but excluding 

15 any ERCOT utility (as defined in section 

16 212(k)(2)(B)). 

17 ‘‘(c) RULEMAKING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

18 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the 

19 Commission shall, consistent with the requirements of this 

20 section, by rule— 

21 ‘‘(1) require neighboring transmission planning 

22 regions to jointly plan with each other; 

23 ‘‘(2) require each transmission planning region 

24 to submit to the Commission for approval a joint 

25 interregional transmission plan with each of its 


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1 neighboring transmission planning regions, which re2 quirement may, at the discretion of the transmission 

3 planning region, be satisfied through the submission 

4 of— 

5 ‘‘(A) a separate joint interregional trans6 mission plan with each of its neighboring trans7 mission planning regions; or 

8 ‘‘(B) 1 or more joint interregional trans9 mission plans, any of which may be submitted 

10 with any 1 or more of its neighboring trans11 mission planning regions; and 

12 ‘‘(3) establish rate treatments for interregional 

13 transmission planning and cost allocation. 

14 ‘‘(d) PLAN ELEMENTS.—The Commission shall re15 quire, within the rule under subsection (c), that joint 

16 interregional transmission plans contain the following ele17 ments: 

18 ‘‘(1) COMPATIBILITY.—A common set of input 

19 assumptions and models, on a consistent timeline, 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(A) allow for the joint identification and 

22 selection, by transmission planning regions, of 

23 specific interregional transmission facilities for 

24 construction or modification, including through 

25 the use of advanced transmission conductors 


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1 (including superconductors) and 

2 reconductoring; 

3 ‘‘(B) consider, to the extent reasonable and 

4 economical, modifications that maximize the 

5 transmission capabilities of existing towers, 

6 structures, or rights-of-way; and 

7 ‘‘(C) consider existing transmission plans. 

8 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION BENEFITS.—A common set 

9 of benefits for interregional transmission planning 

10 and cost allocation, including— 

11 ‘‘(A) improved reliability; 

12 ‘‘(B) reduced congestion; 

13 ‘‘(C) reduced power losses; 

14 ‘‘(D) greater carrying capacity; 

15 ‘‘(E) reduced operating reserve require16 ments; and 

17 ‘‘(F) improved access to lower cost genera18 tion that achieves reductions in the cost of de19 livered power. 

20 ‘‘(3) SELECTION CRITERIA.—Criteria governing 

21 the selection by transmission planning regions, for 

22 construction or modification, of interregional trans23 mission facilities that— 

24 ‘‘(A) provide improved reliability; 

25 ‘‘(B) protect or benefit consumers; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) are consistent with the public inter2 est. 

3 ‘‘(e) DEADLINE; UPDATES.—The joint interregional 

4 transmission plans required to be submitted to the Com5 mission pursuant to the rule under subsection (c) shall 

6 be— 

7 ‘‘(1) submitted to the Commission not later 

8 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this sec9 tion; and 

10 ‘‘(2) updated not less frequently than once 

11 every 4 years. 

12 ‘‘(f) COMMISSION REVIEW.—The Commission shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) review each joint interregional trans14 mission plan submitted pursuant to the rule under 

15 subsection (c); and 

16 ‘‘(2) approve the joint interregional trans17 mission plan if the Commission finds that the 

18 plan— 

19 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements of subsection 

20 (d); 

21 ‘‘(B) allocates costs in accordance with 

22 subsection (g); 

23 ‘‘(C) ensures that all rates, charges, terms, 

24 and conditions will be just and reasonable and 

25 not unduly discriminatory or preferential; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) is consistent with the public interest. 

2 ‘‘(g) COST ALLOCATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION TARIFFS.—For the pur4 poses of this section, any transmitting utility that 

5 owns, controls, or operates electric transmission fa6 cilities constructed or modified as a result of this 

7 section shall file a tariff or tariff revision with the 

8 Commission pursuant to section 205 and the regula9 tions of the Commission allocating the costs of the 

10 new or modified transmission facilities. 

11 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—The Commission shall 

12 require that tariffs or tariff revisions filed under this 

13 section are just and reasonable and allocate the 

14 costs of providing service to customers that benefit, 

15 in accordance with the cost-causation principle, in16 cluding through the benefits described in subsection 

17 (d)(2). 

18 ‘‘(3) RATEPAYER PROTECTION.—Customers 

19 that receive no benefit, or benefits that are trivial in 

20 relation to the costs sought to be allocated, from 

21 electric transmission facilities constructed or modi22 fied under this section shall not be involuntarily allo23 cated any of the costs of those transmission facili24 ties. 


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1 ‘‘(h) CONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—For the purposes of 

2 obtaining a construction permit under section 216(b), a 

3 project that is selected by transmission planning regions 

4 pursuant to a joint interregional transmission plan shall 

5 be considered to satisfy paragraphs (2) through (6) and, 

6 if applicable, (7) of that section. 

7 ‘‘(i) DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—In the event of a dis8 pute between transmission planning regions with respect 

9 to a material element of a joint interregional transmission 

10 plan— 

11 ‘‘(1) the transmission planning regions shall 

12 submit to the Commission their respective proposals 

13 for resolving the material element in dispute for res14 olution; and 

15 ‘‘(2) not later than 60 days after the proposals 

16 are submitted under paragraph (1), the Commission 

17 shall issue an order directing a resolution to the dis18 pute. 

19 ‘‘(j) FAILURE TO SUBMIT PLAN.—In the event that 

20 neighboring transmission planning regions fail to submit 

21 to the Commission a joint interregional transmission plan 

22 under this section, the Commission shall, as the Commis23 sion determines to be appropriate— 


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1 ‘‘(1) grant a request to extend the time for sub2 mission of the joint interregional transmission plan; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(2) require, by order, the transmitting utilities 

5 within the affected transmission planning regions to 

6 comply with a joint interregional transmission plan 

7 approved by the Commission— 

8 ‘‘(A) based on the record of the planning 

9 process conducted by the affected transmission 

10 planning regions; and 

11 ‘‘(B) in accordance with the cost allocation 

12 provisions in subsection (g). 

13 ‘‘(k) NEPA.—For purposes of the National Environ14 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)— 

15 ‘‘(1) any approval of a joint interregional trans16 mission plan under subsection (f) or (j) or order di17 recting resolution of a dispute under subsection (i) 

18 shall not be considered a major Federal action; and 

19 ‘‘(2) any permit granted under section 216(b) 

20 for a project that is selected by transmission plan21 ning regions pursuant to a joint interregional trans22 mission plan shall be considered a major Federal ac23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(l) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Except as expressly pro25 vided in this section, nothing in this section shall be conVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 strued as conferring, limiting, or impairing any authority 

2 of the Commission under any other provision of law.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 201 of the 

4 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 

6 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘and 

7 222’’ and inserting ‘‘222, and 225’’; and 

8 (B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘or 

9 222’’ and inserting ‘‘222, or 225’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (e)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘206(f),’’; and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘or 222’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘222, or 225’’. 

14 (c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section or 

15 an amendment made by this section grants authority to 

16 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the 

17 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) over sales 

18 of electric energy at retail or the local distribution of elec19 tricity. 

20 TITLE V—ELECTRIC 

21 RELIABILITY 

22 SEC. 501. RELIABILITY ASSESSMENTS. 

23 Section 215 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

24 824o) is amended by striking subsection (g) and inserting 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(g) RELIABILITY REPORTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) PERIODIC ASSESSMENTS.—The ERO shall 

3 conduct periodic assessments of the reliability and 

4 adequacy of the bulk-power system in North Amer5 ica. 

6 ‘‘(2) RELIABILITY ASSESSMENTS FOR REGULA7 TIONS.—(A) Whenever the Commission determines, 

8 on its own motion or on request from another Fed9 eral agency, an affected transmission organization, 

10 or any State commission, that a rule, regulation, or 

11 standard proposed by a Federal agency other than 

12 the Commission is likely to result in a violation of 

13 a tariff requirement or process for resource ade14 quacy on file with the Commission or a mandatory 

15 standard for reliability approved by the Commission, 

16 the Commission shall require, by order, the ERO to 

17 assess and report on the effects of the proposed rule, 

18 regulation, or standard on the reliable operation of 

19 the bulk-power system. 

20 ‘‘(B) An ERO reliability assessment ordered 

21 under subparagraph (A) shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) identify any reasonably foreseeable sig23 nificant adverse effects on the reliable operation 

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1 pates will result from the proposed rule, regula2 tion, or standard; 

3 ‘‘(ii) account for mitigations that will be 

4 available under existing rules, regulations, or 

5 tariffs governing facilities of the bulk-power 

6 system under this Act that will reduce or pre7 vent significant adverse effects on the reliable 

8 operation of the bulk-power system from the 

9 proposed rule, regulation, or standard; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) take into account the technical views 

11 of affected transmission organizations regarding 

12 effects on the reliable operation of the bulk13 power system from the proposed rule, regula14 tion, or standard. 

15 ‘‘(C) The ERO shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) submit the report required under sub17 paragraph (A) to the public docket of the Fed18 eral agency proposing the rule, regulation, or 

19 standard, and, if practicable, make such sub20 mission within the time period established by 

21 such Federal agency for submission of public 

22 comments on the proposed rule, regulation, or 

23 standard; 

24 ‘‘(ii) submit such report to the Commis25 sion; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) publish such report in a publicly 

2 available format. 

3 ‘‘(D) This paragraph shall apply to proposed 

4 rules, regulations, or standards pending on, or pro5 posed on or after, the date of enactment of this 

6 paragraph.’’. 

7 TITLE VI—LIQUEFIED NATURAL 

8 GAS EXPORTS 

9 SEC. 601. ACTION ON APPLICATIONS. 

10 Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 

11 is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (e)(3)(A), by inserting ‘‘and 

13 subsection (g)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(g) DEADLINE TO ACT ON CERTAIN EXPORT AP16 PLICATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

18 grant or deny an application under subsection (a) to 

19 export to a foreign country any natural gas from the 

20 United States not later than 90 days after the later 

21 of— 

22 ‘‘(A) the date on which the notice of avail23 ability for each final review required under the 

24 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for the exporting facility 

2 is published with respect to an application— 

3 ‘‘(i) under subsection (e); or 

4 ‘‘(ii) for a license for the ownership, 

5 construction, or operation of a deepwater 

6 port, under section 4 of the Deepwater 

7 Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1503); and 

8 ‘‘(B) the date of enactment of this sub9 section. 

10 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS TO RE-EXPORT.—The Com11 mission shall grant or deny an application under 

12 subsection (a) to re-export to another foreign coun13 try any natural gas that has been exported from the 

14 United States to Canada or Mexico for liquefaction 

15 in Canada or Mexico, or the territorial waters of 

16 Canada or Mexico, not later than 90 days after the 

17 later of— 

18 ‘‘(A) the date on which the notice of avail19 ability for each draft review required under the 

20 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

21 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for the application is pub22 lished; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the date of enactment of this sub24 section. 


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1 ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS FOR EXTENSIONS.—The 

2 Commission shall grant or deny an application for 

3 an extension of a previously issued authorization to 

4 export natural gas described in paragraph (1) or (2) 

5 not later than 90 days after the later of— 

6 ‘‘(A) the date the application for extension 

7 is received by the Commission; and 

8 ‘‘(B) the date of enactment of this sub9 section. 

10 ‘‘(4) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Commission 

11 fails to grant or deny an application subject to this 

12 subsection by the applicable date required by this 

13 subsection, the application shall be considered to be 

14 granted and a final agency order.’’. 

15 SEC. 602. SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEWS. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) 2018 LNG EXPORT STUDY.—The term 

18 ‘‘2018 LNG Export Study’’ means the report enti19 tled ‘‘Macroeconomic Outcomes of Market Deter20 mined Levels of U.S. LNG Exports’’, prepared by 

21 NERA Economic Consulting for the National En22 ergy Technology Laboratory of the Department of 

23 Energy, published June 7, 2018. 

24 (2) 2019 LIFE CYCLE GHG REVIEW.—The term 

25 ‘‘2019 Life Cycle GHG Review’’ means the report 


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1 entitled ‘‘Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Perspective on 

2 Exporting Liquefied Natural Gas from the United 

3 States’’, prepared by S. Roman-White, S. Rai, J. 

4 Littlefield, G. Cooney, and T. J. Skone for the Na5 tional Energy Technology Laboratory of the Depart6 ment of Energy, published September 12, 2019. 

7 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of Energy. 

9 (4) SUPPLEMENTAL GREENHOUSE GAS RE10 VIEW.—The term ‘‘supplemental greenhouse gas re11 view’’ means a review prepared or commissioned by 

12 the Department of Energy and published after Jan13 uary 26, 2024, that analyzes the life cycle green14 house gas emissions of liquefied natural gas exports 

15 from the United States, including consideration of 

16 the modeling parameters used in the 2019 Life 

17 Cycle GHG Review. 

18 (5) SUPPLEMENTAL MACROECONOMIC RE19 VIEW.—The term ‘‘supplemental macroeconomic re20 view’’ means a review prepared or commissioned by 

21 the Department of Energy and published after Jan22 uary 26, 2024, that analyzes the macroeconomic 

23 outcomes of different levels of liquefied natural gas 

24 exports from the United States, including consider25 ation of the natural gas market factors and macroVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00071 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 economic factors analyzed in the 2018 LNG Export 

2 Study. 

3 (6) SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEW.—The term ‘‘sup4 plemental review’’ means a supplemental greenhouse 

5 gas review or a supplemental macroeconomic review. 

6 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR SUPPLEMENTAL RE7 VIEWS.— 

8 (1) NOTICE AND COMMENT ON PROPOSED SUP9 PLEMENTAL REVIEWS.—Before finalizing a supple10 mental review, the Secretary shall publish a notice of 

11 availability of the proposed supplemental review in 

12 the Federal Register pursuant to the notice and 

13 comment provisions of section 553 of title 5, United 

14 States Code. 

15 (2) QUALITY OF SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEWS.—A 

16 supplemental review shall be subject to a peer review 

17 process consistent with the final bulletin of the Of18 fice of Management and Budget entitled ‘‘Final In19 formation Quality Bulletin for Peer Review’’ (70 

20 Fed. Reg. 2664 (January 14, 2005)) (or successor 

21 guidance). 

22 (3) PENDING APPLICATIONS.—For a review of 

23 an application to grant, deny, or extend an order 

24 under section 3(a) of the Natural Gas Act (15 

25 U.S.C. 717b(a)) to export to a foreign country any 


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1 natural gas from an LNG terminal in the United 

2 States or from a facility subject to section 4 of the 

3 Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1503), or 

4 to re-export to another foreign country any natural 

5 gas that has been exported from the United States 

6 to Canada or Mexico for liquefaction in Canada or 

7 Mexico, or the territorial waters of Canada or Mex8 ico, the Secretary shall base any evaluation of— 

9 (A) macroeconomic outcomes on the re10 sults of the 2018 LNG Export Study, or prede11 cessor documents, unless and until the Sec12 retary finalizes and implements a supplemental 

13 macroeconomic review; and 

14 (B) life cycle greenhouse gas emissions on 

15 the results of the 2019 Life Cycle GHG Review, 

16 or predecessor documents, unless and until the 

17 Secretary finalizes and implements a supple18 mental greenhouse gas review. 

19 TITLE VII—HYDROPOWER 

20 SEC. 701. HYDROPOWER LICENSE EXTENSIONS. 

21 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED PROJECT.—In this sec22 tion, the term ‘‘covered project’’ means a hydropower 

23 project with respect to which the Federal Energy Regu24 latory Commission issued a license before March 13, 2020. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF EXTENSION.—Notwith2 standing section 13 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

3 806), on the request of a licensee of a covered project, 

4 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may, after 

5 reasonable notice and for good cause shown, extend in ac6 cordance with subsection (c) the period during which the 

7 licensee is required to commence construction of the cov8 ered project for an additional 4 years beyond the 8 years 

9 authorized by that section. 

10 (c) PERIOD OF EXTENSION.—An extension of time 

11 to commence construction of a covered project under sub12 section (b) shall— 

13 (1) begin on the date on which the final exten14 sion of the period for commencement of construction 

15 granted to the licensee under section 13 of the Fed16 eral Power Act (16 U.S.C. 806) expires; and 

17 (2) end on the date that is 4 years after the lat18 est date to which the Federal Energy Regulatory 

19 Commission is authorized to extend the period for 

20 commencement of construction under that section. 

21 (d) REINSTATEMENT OF EXPIRED LICENSE.—If the 

22 time period required under section 13 of the Federal 

23 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 806) to commence construction of 

24 a covered project expires after December 31, 2023, and 

25 before the date of enactment of this Act— 


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1 (1) the Commission may reinstate the license 

2 for the applicable project effective as of the date of 

3 expiration of the license; and 

4 (2) the extension authorized under subsection 

5 (b) shall take effect on the date of that expiration. 

6 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘En8 ergy Permitting Reform Act of 2024’’. 

9 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

10 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ACCELERATING CLAIMS 

Sec. 101. Accelerating claims. 

TITLE II—FEDERAL ONSHORE ENERGY LEASING AND PERMITTING 

Sec. 201. Onshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 202. Term of application for permit to drill. 

Sec. 203. Permitting compliance on non-Federal land. 

Sec. 204. Coal leases on Federal land. 

Sec. 205. Rights-of-way across Indian land. 

Sec. 206. Accelerating renewable energy permitting. 

Sec. 207. Improving renewable energy coordination on Federal land. 

Sec. 208. Geothermal leasing and permitting improvements. 

Sec. 209. Electric grid projects. 

Sec. 210. Hardrock mining mill sites. 

TITLE III—FEDERAL OFFSHORE ENERGY LEASING AND 

PERMITTING 

Sec. 301. Offshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 302. Offshore wind energy. 

TITLE IV—ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION 

Sec. 401. Transmission permitting. 

Sec. 402. Transmission planning. 

TITLE V—ELECTRIC RELIABILITY 

Sec. 501. Reliability assessments. 


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TITLE VI—LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS EXPORTS 

Sec. 601. Action on applications. 

Sec. 602. Supplemental reviews. 

TITLE VII—HYDROPOWER 

Sec. 701. Hydropower license extensions. 

Sec. 702. Identifying and removing market barriers to hydropower. 

Sec. 703. Regulations to align timetables. 

TITLE VIII—HIRING AND RETENTION 

Sec. 801. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staffing. 

Sec. 802. Compensation flexibility to address retention and hiring issues at the 

Bonneville Power Administration. 

Sec. 803. Northwest Power and Conservation Council. 

Sec. 804. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission personnel safety. 

1 TITLE I—ACCELERATING CLAIMS 

2 SEC. 101. ACCELERATING CLAIMS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) AUTHORIZATION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘authoriza6 tion’’ means any license, permit, approval, 

7 order, or other administrative decision that is re8 quired or authorized under Federal law (includ9 ing regulations) to design, plan, site, construct, 

10 reconstruct, or commence operations of a project. 

11 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘authoriza12 tion’’ includes— 

13 (i) agency approvals of lease sales, per14 mits, rights-of-way, or plans required to ex15 plore for, develop, or produce energy or 

16 minerals under— 


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1 (I) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

2 U.S.C. 181 et seq.); 

3 (II) the Act of August 7, 1947 

4 (commonly known as the ‘‘Mineral 

5 Leasing Act for Acquired Lands’’) (30 

6 U.S.C. 351 et seq.); 

7 (III) the Act of July 31, 1947 

8 (commonly known as the ‘‘Materials 

9 Act of 1947’’) (61 Stat. 681, chapter 

10 406; 30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

11 (IV) sections 2319 through 2344 of 

12 the Revised Statutes (commonly known 

13 as the ‘‘Mining Law of 1872’’) (30 

14 U.S.C. 22 et seq.); 

15 (V) the Outer Continental Shelf 

16 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.); 

17 (VI) the Geothermal Steam Act of 

18 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.); 

19 (VII) the Federal Land Policy 

20 and Management Act of 1976 (43 

21 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 

22 (VIII) title I of the Naval Petro23 leum Reserves Production Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.); 


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1 (ii) statements or permits for a project 

2 under sections 7 and 10 of the Endangered 

3 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536, 1539); 

4 and 

5 (iii) agency approvals under the 

6 Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 

7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) of hazardous fuel reduc8 tion and forest restoration projects. 

9 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘en10 vironmental document’’ includes any of the following, 

11 as prepared under the National Environmental Pol12 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.): 

13 (A) An environmental assessment. 

14 (B) A finding of no significant impact. 

15 (C) An environmental impact statement. 

16 (D) A record of decision. 

17 (3) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means a 

18 project— 

19 (A) proposed for— 

20 (i) the construction of infrastructure— 

21 (I) to develop, produce, generate, 

22 store, transport, or distribute energy; 

23 (II) to capture, remove, transport, 

24 or store carbon dioxide; or 


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1 (III) to mine, extract, beneficiate, 

2 or process minerals; or 

3 (ii) hazardous fuel reduction and forest 

4 restoration for the protection of infrastruc5 ture or communities from wildfire; and 

6 (B) subject to the requirements that— 

7 (i) an environmental document be pre8 pared; and 

9 (ii) the applicable agency issue an au10 thorization of the activity. 

11 (4) PROJECT SPONSOR.—The term ‘‘project spon12 sor’’ means an entity, including any private, public, 

13 or public-private entity, seeking an authorization for 

14 a project. 

15 (b) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—Notwithstanding any 

16 other provision of law, a civil action arising under Federal 

17 law seeking judicial review of a final agency action grant18 ing or denying an authorization shall be barred unless the 

19 civil action is filed by the date that is 150 days after the 

20 date on which the authorization was granted or denied, un21 less a shorter time is specified in the Federal law pursuant 

22 to which judicial review is allowed. 

23 (c) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—A reviewing court shall set 

24 for expedited consideration any civil action arising under 


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1 Federal law seeking judicial review of a final agency action 

2 granting or denying an authorization. 

3 (d) REMANDED ACTIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the reviewing court re5 mands a final Federal agency action granting or de6 nying an authorization to the Federal agency for fur7 ther proceedings, whether on a motion by the court, 

8 the agency, or another party, the court shall set a rea9 sonable schedule and deadline for the agency to act on 

10 remand, which shall not exceed 180 days from the 

11 date on which the order of the court was issued, unless 

12 a longer time period is necessary to comply with ap13 plicable law. 

14 (2) EXPEDITED TREATMENT OF REMANDED AC15 TIONS.—The head of the Federal agency to which a 

16 court remands a final Federal agency action under 

17 paragraph (1) shall take such actions as may be nec18 essary to provide for the expeditious disposition of the 

19 action on remand in accordance with the schedule 

20 and deadline set by the court under that paragraph. 

21 (e) TREATMENT OF SUPPLEMENTAL OR REVISED EN22 VIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS.—For the purpose of subsection 

23 (b), the preparation of a supplemental or revised environ24 mental document, when required, shall be considered to be 

25 a separate final agency action. 


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1 (f) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the date on 

2 which an agency is served a copy of a petition for review 

3 or a complaint in a civil action described in subsection (b), 

4 the head of the agency shall notify the project sponsor of 

5 the filing of the petition or complaint. 

6 (g) PERMITTING COUNCIL.—Nothing in this title pre7 cludes a project from being designated as a covered project 

8 (as defined in section 41001 of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 4370m)) for the purposes of title XLI of that Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 4370m et seq.). 

11 TITLE II—FEDERAL ONSHORE 

12 ENERGY LEASING AND PER13 MITTING 

14 SEC. 201. ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 

15 (a) LIMITATION ON ISSUANCE OF CERTAIN LEASES OR

16 RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Section 50265(b)(1)(B) of Public Law 

17 117–169 (43 U.S.C. 3006(b)(1)(B)) is amended, in the mat18 ter preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, including only acres 

19 that were nominated in previously submitted expressions of 

20 interest,’’ after ‘‘energy development’’. 

21 (b) MINERAL LEASING ACT REFORMS.— 

22 (1) EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR OIL AND

23 GAS LEASING.—Section 17(b) of the Mineral Leasing 

24 Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)) is amended by adding at the 

25 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) SUBDIVISION.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A parcel of land in3 cluded in an expression of interest that the Sec4 retary of the Interior offers for lease shall be 

5 leased as nominated and not subdivided into 

6 multiple parcels unless the Secretary of the Inte7 rior determines that a subpart of the submitted 

8 parcel is not open to oil or gas leasing under the 

9 approved resource management plan. 

10 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED REVIEWS.—Nothing in this 

11 paragraph affects the obligations of the Secretary 

12 of the Interior to complete requirements and re13 views established by other provisions of law be14 fore leasing a parcel of land. 

15 ‘‘(4) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) LEASE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A 

17 lease issued under this section shall be subject to 

18 the terms and conditions of the approved re19 source management plan. 

20 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF LEASING DECISION.—Not21 withstanding section 1506.1 of title 40, Code of 

22 Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of 

23 enactment of this paragraph), the Secretary may 

24 conduct a lease sale under an approved resource 


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1 management plan while amendments to the ap2 proved plan are under consideration.’’. 

3 (2) REFUND OF EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

4 FEE.—Section 17(q) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

5 U.S.C. 226(q)) is amended— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it 

7 appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of the Inte8 rior’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘non10 refundable’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(3) REFUND FOR NONWINNING BID.—If a per13 son other than the person who submitted the expres14 sion of interest is the highest responsible qualified 

15 bidder for a parcel of land covered by the applicable 

16 expression of interest in a lease sale conducted under 

17 this section— 

18 ‘‘(A) as a condition of the issuance of the 

19 lease, the person who is the highest responsible 

20 qualified bidder shall pay to the Secretary of the 

21 Interior an amount equal to the applicable fee 

22 paid by the person who submitted the expression 

23 of interest; and 

24 ‘‘(B) not later than 60 days after the date 

25 of the lease sale, the Secretary of the Interior 


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1 shall refund to the person who submitted the ex2 pression of interest an amount equal to the 

3 amount of the initial fee paid. 

4 ‘‘(4) REFUNDABILITY.—Except as provided in 

5 paragraph (3)(B), the fee assessed under paragraph 

6 (1) shall be nonrefundable.’’. 

7 SEC. 202. TERM OF APPLICATION FOR PERMIT TO DRILL. 

8 Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

9 226(p)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) TERM.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A permit to drill ap12 proved under this subsection shall be valid for a 

13 single non-renewable 4-year period beginning on 

14 the date of the approval. 

15 ‘‘(B) RETROACTIVITY.—In addition to all 

16 approved applications for permits to drill sub17 mitted on or after the date of enactment of this 

18 paragraph, subparagraph (A) shall apply to— 

19 ‘‘(i) all valid, unexpired permits in ef20 fect on the date of enactment of this para21 graph; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) all pending applications for per23 mit to drill submitted prior to the date of 

24 enactment of this paragraph.’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. PERMITTING COMPLIANCE ON NON-FEDERAL 

2 LAND. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the Mineral Leas4 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Federal Oil and Gas 

5 Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 

6 or subpart 3162 of part 3160 of title 43, Code of Federal 

7 Regulations (or successor regulations), but subject to any 

8 applicable State or Tribal requirements and subsection (c), 

9 the Secretary of the Interior shall not require a permit to 

10 drill for an oil and gas lease under the Mineral Leasing 

11 Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) for an action occurring within 

12 an oil and gas drilling or spacing unit if— 

13 (1) the Federal Government— 

14 (A) owns less than 50 percent of the min15 erals within the oil and gas drilling or spacing 

16 unit; and 

17 (B) does not own or lease the surface estate 

18 within the area directly impacted by the action; 

19 (2) the well is located on non-Federal land over20 lying a non-Federal mineral estate, but some portion 

21 of the wellbore enters and produces from the Federal 

22 mineral estate subject to the lease; or 

23 (3) the well is located on non-Federal land over24 lying a non-Federal mineral estate, but some portion 

25 of the wellbore traverses but does not produce from the 

26 Federal mineral estate subject to the lease. 


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1 (b) NOTIFICATION.—For each State permit to drill or 

2 drilling plan that would impact or extract oil and gas 

3 owned by the Federal Government— 

4 (1) each lessee of Federal minerals in the unit, 

5 or designee of a lessee, shall— 

6 (A) notify the Secretary of the Interior of 

7 the submission of a State application for a per8 mit to drill or drilling plan on submission of the 

9 application; and 

10 (B) provide a copy of the application de11 scribed in subparagraph (A) to the Secretary of 

12 the Interior not later than 5 days after the date 

13 on which the permit or plan is submitted; 

14 (2) each lessee, designee of a lessee, or applicable 

15 State shall notify the Secretary of the Interior of the 

16 approved State permit to drill or drilling plan not 

17 later than 45 days after the date on which the permit 

18 or plan is approved; and 

19 (3) each lessee or designee of a lessee shall pro20 vide, prior to commencing drilling operations, agree21 ments authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to 

22 enter non-Federal land, as necessary, for inspection 

23 and enforcement of the terms of the Federal lease. 

24 (c) NONAPPLICABILITY TO INDIAN LANDS.—Subsection 

25 (a) shall not apply to Indian lands (as defined in section 


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1 3 of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 

2 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1702)). 

3 (d) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section affects— 

4 (1) other authorities of the Secretary of the Inte5 rior under the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Manage6 ment Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 

7 (2) the amount of royalties due to the Federal 

8 Government from the production of the Federal min9 erals within the oil and gas drilling or spacing unit. 

10 (e) AUTHORITY ON NON-FEDERAL LAND.—Section 

11 17(g) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(g)) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) by striking the subsection designation and all 

14 that follows through ‘‘Secretary of the Interior, or’’ in 

15 the first sentence and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(g)(1) The Secretary of the Interior, or’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(2)(A) In the case of an oil and gas lease under this 

19 Act on land described in subparagraph (B) located within 

20 an oil and gas drilling or spacing unit, nothing in this 

21 Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior— 

22 ‘‘(i) to require a bond to protect non-Federal 

23 land; 

24 ‘‘(ii) to enter non-Federal land without the con25 sent of the applicable landowner; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) to impose mitigation requirements; or 

2 ‘‘(iv) to require approval for surface reclamation. 

3 ‘‘(B) Land referred to in subparagraph (A) is land 

4 where— 

5 ‘‘(i) the Federal Government— 

6 ‘‘(I) owns less than 50 percent of the min7 erals within the oil and gas drilling or spacing 

8 unit; and 

9 ‘‘(II) does not own or lease the surface estate 

10 within the area directly impacted by the action; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the well is located on non-Federal land 

12 overlying a non-Federal mineral estate, but some por13 tion of the wellbore enters and produces from the Fed14 eral mineral estate subject to the lease; or 

15 ‘‘(iii) the well is located on non-Federal land 

16 overlying a non-Federal mineral estate, but some por17 tion of the wellbore traverses but does not produce 

18 from the Federal mineral estate subject to the lease.’’. 

19 SEC. 204. COAL LEASES ON FEDERAL LAND. 

20 (a) DEADLINES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(a) of the Mineral 

22 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 201(a)) is amended— 

23 (A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, 

24 by striking ‘‘he shall, in his discretion, upon the 

25 request of any qualified applicant or on his own 


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1 motion from time to time’’ and insert ‘‘the Sec2 retary shall, at the discretion of the Secretary 

3 but subject to paragraph (6), on the request of 

4 any qualified applicant or on a motion by the 

5 Secretary’’; and 

6 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(6) DEADLINES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) APPLICANT MOTION.—Not later than 

9 90 days after the date on which a request of a 

10 qualified applicant is received for a lease sale 

11 under paragraph (1), or for a lease modification 

12 under section 3, the Secretary of the Interior 

13 shall commence all necessary consultations and 

14 reviews required under Federal law in accord15 ance with that paragraph or section, as applica16 ble. 

17 ‘‘(B) DECISION.—Not later than 90 days 

18 after the completion of an environmental impact 

19 statement or environmental assessment consistent 

20 with the requirements of the National Environ21 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

22 seq.) for a lease sale under paragraph (1), or for 

23 a lease modification under section 3, the Sec24 retary of the Interior shall issue a record of deciVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00089 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 sion or a finding of no significant impact for the 

2 lease sale or lease modification. 

3 ‘‘(C) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—Not later than 

4 30 days after the date on which the Secretary of 

5 the Interior issues a record of decision or a find6 ing of no significant impact under subparagraph 

7 (B) for a lease sale under paragraph (1), or for 

8 a lease modification under section 3, the Sec9 retary shall determine the fair market value of 

10 the coal subject to the lease.’’. 

11 (2) LEASE MODIFICATIONS.—Section 3(b) of the 

12 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 203(b)) is amended 

13 by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall prescribe’’ and in14 serting ‘‘Subject to section 2(a)(6), the Secretary shall 

15 prescribe’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2(a)(1) of 

17 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 201(a)(1)) is amend18 ed— 

19 (1) in the first sentence— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘he finds appropriate’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘the Secretary of the Interior finds ap22 propriate’’; and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘he deems appropriate’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘the Secretary of the Interior deter25 mines to be appropriate’’; 


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1 (2) in the sixth sentence, by striking ‘‘Prior to 

2 his determination’’ and inserting ‘‘Prior to a deter3 mination by the Secretary of the Interior’’; 

4 (3) in the seventh sentence— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘to make public his judg6 ment’’ and inserting ‘‘to make public the judg7 ment of the Secretary of the Interior’’; and 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘comments he receives’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘comments received by the Secretary of 

10 the Interior’’; and 

11 (4) in the eighth sentence, by striking ‘‘He is 

12 hereby authorized’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of 

13 the Interior is authorized’’. 

14 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 2(b)(3) of the 

15 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 201(b)(3)) is amended, in 

16 the first sentence, by striking ‘‘geophyscal’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘geophysical’’. 

18 SEC. 205. RIGHTS-OF-WAY ACROSS INDIAN LAND. 

19 The Act of February 5, 1948 (62 Stat. 17, chapter 45), 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) in the first section (62 Stat. 17, chapter 45; 

22 25 U.S.C. 323), by striking ‘‘That the Secretary of the 

23 Interior be, and he is hereby, empowered to’’ and in24 serting the following: 


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1 ‘‘SECTION 1. RIGHTS-OF-WAY FOR ALL PURPOSES ACROSS 

2 INDIAN LAND. 

3 ‘‘The Secretary of the Interior may’’; 

4 (2) in section 2 (62 Stat. 18, chapter 45; 25 

5 U.S.C. 324), by striking ‘‘organized under the Act of 

6 June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), as amended; the Act of 

7 May 1, 1936 (49 Stat. 1250); or the Act of June 26, 

8 1936 (49 Stat. 1967),’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 8. TRIBAL GRANTS OF RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 

11 ‘‘(a) RIGHTS-OF-WAY.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), an 

13 Indian tribe may grant a right-of-way over and 

14 across the Tribal land of the Indian tribe for any 

15 purpose. 

16 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—A right-of-way granted under 

17 paragraph (1) shall not require the approval of the 

18 Secretary of the Interior or a grant by the Secretary 

19 of the Interior under section 1 if the right-of-way 

20 granted under that paragraph is executed in accord21 ance with a Tribal regulation approved by the Sec22 retary of the Interior under subsection (b). 

23 ‘‘(b) REVIEW OF TRIBAL REGULATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) TRIBAL REGULATION SUBMISSION AND AP25 PROVAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) SUBMISSION.—An Indian tribe seeking 

2 to grant a right-of-way under subsection (a) 

3 shall submit for approval a Tribal regulation 

4 governing the granting of rights-of-way over and 

5 across the Tribal land of the Indian tribe. 

6 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

7 the Secretary of the Interior shall have the au8 thority to approve or disapprove any Tribal reg9 ulation submitted under subparagraph (A). 

10 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS FOR APPROVAL.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

12 Interior shall approve a Tribal regulation sub13 mitted under paragraph (1)(A), if the Tribal 

14 regulation— 

15 ‘‘(i) is consistent with any regulations 

16 (or successor regulations) issued by the Sec17 retary of the Interior under section 6; 

18 ‘‘(ii) provides for an environmental re19 view process that includes— 

20 ‘‘(I) the identification and evalua21 tion of any significant impacts the 

22 proposed action may have on the envi23 ronment; and 

24 ‘‘(II) a process for ensuring— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) that the public is in2 formed of, and has a reasonable 

3 opportunity to comment on, any 

4 significant environmental impacts 

5 of the proposed action identified 

6 by the Indian tribe under sub7 clause (I); and 

8 ‘‘(bb) the Indian tribe pro9 vides a response to each relevant 

10 and substantive public comment 

11 on the significant environmental 

12 impacts identified by the Indian 

13 tribe under subclause (I) before 

14 the Indian tribe approves the 

15 right-of-way. 

16 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE LAWS.—The Secretary of 

17 the Interior, in making a decision to approve a 

18 Tribal regulation under this subsection, shall not 

19 be subject to— 

20 ‘‘(i) the National Environmental Pol21 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

22 ‘‘(ii) section 306108 of title 54, United 

23 States Code; or 

24 ‘‘(iii) the Endangered Species Act of 

25 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 


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1 ‘‘(3) REVIEW PROCESS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

3 days after the date on which the Indian tribe 

4 submits a Tribal regulation to the Secretary of 

5 the Interior under paragraph (1)(A), the Sec6 retary of the Interior shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) review the Tribal regulation; 

8 ‘‘(ii) approve or disapprove the Tribal 

9 regulation; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) notify the Indian tribe that sub11 mitted the Tribal regulation of the approval 

12 or disapproval. 

13 ‘‘(B) WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION.—If the 

14 Secretary of the Interior disapproves a Tribal 

15 regulation submitted under paragraph (1)(A), 

16 the Secretary of the Interior shall include with 

17 the disapproval notification under subparagraph 

18 (A)(iii) written documentation describing the 

19 basis for the disapproval. 

20 ‘‘(C) EXTENSION.—The Secretary of the In21 terior may, after consultation with the Indian 

22 tribe that submitted a Tribal regulation under 

23 paragraph (1)(A), extend the 180-day period de24 scribed in subparagraph (A). 


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1 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—Not2 withstanding paragraphs (2) and (3), if an Indian 

3 tribe carries out a project or activity funded by a 

4 Federal agency, the Indian tribe may rely on the en5 vironmental review process of the applicable Federal 

6 agency rather than any Tribal environmental review 

7 process required under this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(c) DOCUMENTATION.—An Indian tribe granting a 

9 right-of-way under subsection (a) shall provide to the Sec10 retary of the Interior— 

11 ‘‘(1) a copy of the right-of-way, including any 

12 amendments or renewals; and 

13 ‘‘(2) if the right-of-way allows for compensation 

14 to be made directly to the Indian tribe, documenta15 tion of payments that are sufficient, as determined by 

16 the Secretary of the Interior, as to enable the Sec17 retary of the Interior to discharge the trust responsi18 bility of the United States under subsection (d). 

19 ‘‘(d) TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall not 

21 be liable for losses sustained by any party to a right22 of-way granted under subsection (a). 

23 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to the author25 ity of the Secretary of the Interior to fulfill the 


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1 trust obligation of the United States to the appli2 cable Indian tribe under Federal law (including 

3 regulations), the Secretary of the Interior may, 

4 on reasonable notice from the applicable Indian 

5 tribe and at the discretion of the Secretary of the 

6 Interior, enforce the provisions of, or cancel, any 

7 right-of-way granted by the Indian tribe under 

8 subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY.—The enforcement or can10 cellation of a right-of-way under subparagraph 

11 (A) shall be conducted using regulatory proce12 dures issued under section 6. 

13 ‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An interested party, after ex15 haustion of any applicable Tribal remedies, may sub16 mit a petition to the Secretary of the Interior, at such 

17 time and in such form as determined by the Secretary 

18 of the Interior, to review the compliance of an appli19 cable Indian tribe with a Tribal regulation approved 

20 by the Secretary of the Interior under subsection (b). 

21 ‘‘(2) VIOLATIONS.—If the Secretary of the Inte22 rior determines that a Tribal regulation was violated 

23 after conducting a review under paragraph (1), the 

24 Secretary of the Interior may take any action the 

25 Secretary of the Interior determines to be necessary to 


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1 remedy the violation, including rescinding the ap2 proval of the Tribal regulation and reassuming re3 sponsibility for approving rights-of-way through the 

4 trust land of the applicable Indian tribe. 

5 ‘‘(3) DOCUMENTATION.—If the Secretary of the 

6 Interior determines that a Tribal regulation was vio7 lated after conducting a review under paragraph (1), 

8 the Secretary of the Interior shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) provide written documentation, with 

10 respect to the Tribal regulation that has been 

11 violated, to the appropriate interested party and 

12 Indian tribe; 

13 ‘‘(B) provide the applicable Indian tribe 

14 with a written notice of the alleged violation; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(C) prior to the exercise of any remedy, in17 cluding rescinding the approval for the applica18 ble Tribal regulation or reassuming responsi19 bility for approving rights-of-way through the 

20 trust land of the applicable Indian tribe, provide 

21 the applicable Indian tribe with— 

22 ‘‘(i) a hearing that is on the record; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(ii) a reasonable opportunity to cure 

25 the alleged violation. 


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1 ‘‘(f) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section affects 

2 the application of any Tribal regulations issued under Fed3 eral environmental law. 

4 ‘‘(g) EFFECT OF TRIBAL REGULATIONS.—An ap5 proved Tribal regulation under subsection (b) shall not pre6 clude an Indian tribe from, in the discretion of the Indian 

7 tribe, consenting to the grant of a right-of-way by the Sec8 retary of the Interior under section 1. 

9 ‘‘(h) TERMS OF RIGHT-OF-WAY.—The compensation 

10 for, and terms of, a right-of-way granted under subsection 

11 (a) will be determined by— 

12 ‘‘(1) negotiations by the Indian tribe; or 

13 ‘‘(2) the regulations of the Indian tribe. 

14 ‘‘(i) JURISDICTION.—The grant of a right-of-way 

15 under subsection (a) does not waive the sovereign immunity 

16 of the Indian tribe or diminish the jurisdiction of that In17 dian tribe over the Tribal land subject to the right-of-way, 

18 unless otherwise provided in— 

19 ‘‘(1) the grant of the right-of-way; or 

20 ‘‘(2) the regulations of the Indian tribe.’’. 

21 SEC. 206. ACCELERATING RENEWABLE ENERGY PERMIT22 TING. 

23 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

2 project’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

3 3101 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 3001). 

4 (2) PREVIOUSLY DISTURBED OR DEVELOPED.— 

5 The term ‘‘previously disturbed or developed’’ has the 

6 meaning given the term in section 1021.410(g)(1) of 

7 title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor reg8 ulations). 

9 (b) DEADLINE FOR CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS

10 FOR RIGHTS-OF-WAY.— 

11 (1) COMPLETENESS OF REVIEW.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 

13 after the date on which the Secretary of the Inte14 rior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as applica15 ble, receives an application for a right-of-way 

16 under section 501 of the Federal Land Policy 

17 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) 

18 for an eligible project, the applicable Secretary 

19 shall— 

20 (i) notify the applicant that the appli21 cation is complete; or 

22 (ii) notify the applicant that informa23 tion is missing from the application and 

24 specify any information that is required to 


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1 be submitted for the application to be com2 plete. 

3 (B) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE4 MENT.—For an eligible project that requires an 

5 environmental impact statement for an applica6 tion submitted under subparagraph (A), the Sec7 retary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agri8 culture, as applicable, shall issue a notice of in9 tent not later than 90 days after the date on 

10 which the applicable Secretary determines that 

11 an application is complete under subparagraph 

12 (A). 

13 (2) COST RECOVERY AND ISSUANCE OR DEFER14 RAL.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 

16 after the date on which an applicant submits a 

17 complete application for a right-of-way under 

18 paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Interior or 

19 the Secretary of Agriculture, as applicable, shall, 

20 if a cost recovery agreement is required under 

21 section 2804.14 of title 43, Code of Federal Regu22 lations (or successor regulations), or section 

23 251.58 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations 

24 (or successor regulations), issue a cost recovery 

25 agreement. 


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1 (B) DECISION.—Not later than 30 days 

2 after the date on which an applicant submits a 

3 complete application for a right-of-way under 

4 paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Interior or 

5 the Secretary of Agriculture, as applicable, 

6 shall— 

7 (i) grant or deny the application, if 

8 the requirements under the National Envi9 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

10 4321 et seq.) and any other applicable law 

11 have been completed; or 

12 (ii) defer the decision on the applica13 tion and provide to the applicant notice— 

14 (I) that specifies steps that the ap15 plicant can take for the decision on the 

16 application to be issued; and 

17 (II) of a list of actions that need 

18 to be taken by the agency in order to 

19 comply with applicable law, and 

20 timelines and deadlines for completing 

21 those actions. 

22 (c) LOW DISTURBANCE ACTIVITIES FOR RENEWABLE

23 ENERGY PROJECTS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, to facilitate timely 


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1 permitting of eligible projects, the Secretary of the In2 terior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall each de3 velop or adopt 1 or more categorical exclusions, in4 cluding allowing for extraordinary circumstances 

5 under which the categorical exclusion shall not be 

6 available, under the National Environmental Policy 

7 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for low disturb8 ance activities necessary for renewable energy 

9 projects. 

10 (2) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—Low disturbance 

11 activities referred to in paragraph (1) are the fol12 lowing: 

13 (A) Individual surface disturbances of less 

14 than 5 acres that have undergone site-specific 

15 analysis in a document prepared pursuant to the 

16 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

17 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) that has been previously 

18 completed. 

19 (B) Activities at a location at which the 

20 same type of activity has previously occurred 

21 within 5 years prior to the date of commence22 ment of the activity. 

23 (C) Activities on previously disturbed or de24 veloped land for which an approved land use 

25 plan or any environmental document prepared 


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1 pursuant to the National Environmental Policy 

2 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) analyzed 

3 such activity as reasonably foreseeable, so long as 

4 such plan or document was approved within 5 

5 years prior to the date of the activity. 

6 (D) The installation, modification, oper7 ation, or removal of commercially available solar 

8 photovoltaic systems located on— 

9 (i) a building or other structure (such 

10 as a rooftop, parking lot, or facility, or 

11 mounted to signage, lighting, gates, or 

12 fences); or 

13 (ii) previously disturbed or developed 

14 land comprising less than 10 acres. 

15 (E) Maintenance of a minor activity, other 

16 than any construction or major renovation, or a 

17 building or facility. 

18 (F) Preliminary geotechnical investigations. 

19 (G) The construction and removal of mete20 orological evaluation towers. 

21 SEC. 207. IMPROVING RENEWABLE ENERGY COORDINATION 

22 ON FEDERAL LAND. 

23 (a) NATIONAL GOAL FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PRO24 DUCTION ON FEDERAL LAND.— 


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1 (1) GOAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, in accordance with sec3 tion 3104 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 

4 3004), the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 

5 with the Secretary of Agriculture and other heads of 

6 relevant Federal agencies, shall establish a target date 

7 for the authorization of not less than 50 gigawatts of 

8 renewable energy production on Federal land by not 

9 later than 2030. 

10 (2) PERIODIC GOAL REVISION.—Section 3104 of 

11 the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 3004) is amend12 ed— 

13 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘and pe14 riodically revise’’ after ‘‘establish’’; and 

15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(c) PERMITTING.—Subject to the limitations de17 scribed in section 50265(b)(1) of Public Law 117–169 (43 

18 U.S.C. 3006(b)(1)), the Secretary shall, in consultation 

19 with the heads of relevant Federal agencies, seek to issue 

20 permits that authorize, in total, sufficient electricity from 

21 eligible projects to meet or exceed the national goals estab22 lished and revised under this section.’’. 

23 (b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—Paragraph 

24 (4) of section 3101 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 

25 3001) is amended by inserting ‘‘or store’’ after ‘‘generate’’. 


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1 (c) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT REVIEW STAND2 ARDS.—Section 3102 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 

3 3002) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a), in the second sentence, by 

5 inserting ‘‘sufficient to achieve goals for renewable en6 ergy production on Federal land established under 

7 section 3104’’ before the period at the end; 

8 (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection 

9 (h); and 

10 (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the following: 

11 ‘‘(f) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT REVIEW STAND12 ARDS.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

13 of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, for the pur14 pose of encouraging standardized reviews and facilitating 

15 the permitting of eligible projects, the National Renewable 

16 Energy Coordination Office of the Bureau of Land Manage17 ment shall promulgate renewable energy project review 

18 standards to be adopted by regional renewable energy co19 ordination offices. 

20 ‘‘(g) CLARIFICATION OF EXISTING AUTHORITY.— 

21 Under section 307 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage22 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1737), the Secretary may ac23 cept donations from renewable energy companies to improve 

24 community engagement for the permitting of energy 

25 projects.’’. 


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1 (d) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section, or an 

2 amendment made by this section, modifies the limitations 

3 described in section 50265(b)(1) of Public Law 117–169 (43 

4 U.S.C. 3006(b)(1)). 

5 SEC. 208. GEOTHERMAL LEASING AND PERMITTING IM6 PROVEMENTS. 

7 (a) PRELIMINARY GEOTHERMAL ACTIVITIES.—Not 

8 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

9 the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri10 culture shall each develop or adopt 1 or more categorical 

11 exclusions, including allowing for extraordinary cir12 cumstances under which the categorical exclusion shall not 

13 be available, under the National Environmental Policy Act 

14 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for individual disturbances 

15 of less than 10 acres for activities required to test, monitor, 

16 calibrate, explore, or confirm geothermal resources, provided 

17 those activities do not involve— 

18 (1) the commercial production of geothermal re19 sources; 

20 (2) the use of geothermal resources for commer21 cial operations; or 

22 (3) construction of permanent roads. 

23 (b) ANNUAL LEASING.—Section 4(b) of the Geothermal 

24 Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘every 2 

2 years’’ and inserting ‘‘per year’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(5) REPLACEMENT SALES.—If a lease sale 

5 under this section for a year is cancelled or delayed, 

6 the Secretary shall conduct a replacement sale not 

7 later than 180 days after the date of the cancellation 

8 or delay, as applicable, and the replacement sale may 

9 not be cancelled or delayed.’’. 

10 (c) DEADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEOTHERMAL

11 DRILLING PERMITS.—Section 4 of the Geothermal Steam 

12 Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003) is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following: 

14 ‘‘(h) DEADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEO15 THERMAL DRILLING PERMITS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days after 

17 the date on which the Secretary receives an applica18 tion for any geothermal drilling permit, the Secretary 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) provide written notice to the applicant 

21 that the application is complete; or 

22 ‘‘(B) notify the applicant that information 

23 is missing from the application and specify any 

24 information that is required to be submitted for 

25 the application to be complete. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DECISION.—Not later than 30 days after 

2 the date on which an applicant submits a complete 

3 application for a geothermal drilling permit under 

4 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) grant or deny the application, if the 

6 requirements under the National Environmental 

7 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and 

8 any other applicable law have been completed; or 

9 ‘‘(B) defer the decision on the application 

10 and provide to the applicant notice— 

11 ‘‘(i) that specifies steps that the appli12 cant can take for the decision on the appli13 cation to be issued; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) of a list of actions that need to be 

15 taken by the agency in order to comply with 

16 applicable law, and timelines and deadlines 

17 for completing those actions.’’. 

18 (d) COST RECOVERY AUTHORITY.—Section 24 of the 

19 Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1023) is amend20 ed— 

21 (1) by striking the section designation and all 

22 that follows through ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 24. RULES AND REGULATIONS. 

25 ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The Sec2 retary shall, not later than 180 days after the date of 

3 enactment of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 

4 2024, promulgate rules for cost recovery, to be paid 

5 by permit applicants or lessees, to facilitate the time6 ly coordination and processing of leases, permits, and 

7 authorizations and to reimburse the Secretary for all 

8 reasonable administrative costs incurred from the in9 spection and monitoring of activities thereunder.’’. 

10 (e) FEDERAL PERMITTING PROCESS.—Not later than 

11 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

12 of the Interior shall promulgate regulations and establish 

13 a Federal permitting process to allow for simultaneous, con14 current consideration of multiple phases of a geothermal 

15 project, including— 

16 (1) surface exploration; 

17 (2) geophysical exploration (including well drill18 ing); 

19 (3) production well drilling; and 

20 (4) use of geothermal resources (including power 

21 plant construction). 

22 (f) GEOTHERMAL PRODUCTION PARITY.—Section 390 

23 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15942) is 

24 amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘(NEPA)’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (referred to in this sec3 tion as ‘NEPA’)’’; 

4 (B) by inserting ‘‘(30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.)’’ 

5 after ‘‘Mineral Leasing Act’’; and 

6 (C) by inserting ‘‘, or the Geothermal Steam 

7 Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) for the pur8 pose of exploration or development of geothermal 

9 resources’’ before the period at the end; and 

10 (2) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘oil or 

12 gas’’ and inserting ‘‘oil, gas, or geothermal re13 sources’’; and 

14 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘oil or 

15 gas’’ and inserting ‘‘oil, gas, or geothermal re16 sources’’. 

17 (g) GEOTHERMAL OMBUDSMAN.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

20 Interior shall appoint within the Bureau of Land 

21 Management a Geothermal Ombudsman. 

22 (2) DUTIES.—The Geothermal Ombudsman ap23 pointed under paragraph (1) shall— 

24 (A) act as a liaison between— 


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1 (i) the individual field offices of the 

2 Bureau of Land Management; 

3 (ii) the Division Chief of the National 

4 Renewable Energy Coordination Office of 

5 the Bureau of Land Management; and 

6 (iii) the Director of the Bureau of 

7 Land Management; 

8 (B) provide dispute resolution services be9 tween the individual field offices of the Bureau 

10 of Land Management and applicants for geo11 thermal resource permits; 

12 (C) monitor and facilitate permit proc13 essing practices and timelines across individual 

14 field offices of the Bureau of Land Management; 

15 (D) develop best practices for the permitting 

16 and leasing process for geothermal resources; and 

17 (E) coordinate with the Federal Permitting 

18 Improvement Steering Council. 

19 (3) REPORT.—The Geothermal Ombudsman shall 

20 submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re21 sources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 

22 Resources of the House of Representatives an annual 

23 report that describes the activities of the Geothermal 

24 Ombudsman and evaluates the effectiveness of geoVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00112 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 thermal permit processing during the preceding 1- 

2 year period. 

3 SEC. 209. ELECTRIC GRID PROJECTS. 

4 (a) DEFINITION OF PREVIOUSLY DISTURBED OR DE5 VELOPED.—In this section, the term ‘‘previously disturbed 

6 or developed’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

7 1021.410(g)(1) of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

8 successor regulations). 

9 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, to facilitate timely permit11 ting, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri12 culture shall each develop or adopt 1 or more categorical 

13 exclusions, including allowing for extraordinary cir14 cumstances under which the categorical exclusion shall not 

15 be available, under the National Environmental Policy Act 

16 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for the following activities: 

17 (1) Placement of an electric transmission or dis18 tribution facility in an approved right-of-way cor19 ridor, if the corridor was approved during the 5-year 

20 period ending on the date of placement of the facility. 

21 (2) Any repair, maintenance, replacement, up22 grade, modification, optimization, or minor reloca23 tion of, or addition to, an existing electric trans24 mission or distribution facility or associated infra25 structure, including electrical substations, within an 


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1 existing right-of-way or on otherwise previously dis2 turbed or developed land, including reconductoring 

3 and installation of grid-enhancing technologies. 

4 (3) Construction, operation, upgrade, or decom5 missioning of a battery or other energy storage tech6 nology on previously disturbed or developed land. 

7 SEC. 210. HARDROCK MINING MILL SITES. 

8 (a) MULTIPLE MILL SITES.—Section 2337 of the Re9 vised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 42) is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following: 

11 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL MILL SITES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

13 ‘‘(A) MILL SITE.—The term ‘mill site’ 

14 means a location of public land that is reason15 ably necessary for waste rock or tailings disposal 

16 or other operations reasonably incident to min17 eral development on, or production from land in18 cluded in a plan of operations. 

19 ‘‘(B) OPERATIONS; OPERATOR.—The terms 

20 ‘operations’ and ‘operator’ have the meanings 

21 given those terms in section 3809.5 of title 43, 

22 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

23 date of enactment of this subsection). 

24 ‘‘(C) PLAN OF OPERATIONS.—The term 

25 ‘plan of operations’ means a plan of operations 


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1 that an operator must submit and the Secretary 

2 of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as 

3 applicable, must approve before an operator may 

4 begin operations, in accordance with, as applica5 ble— 

6 ‘‘(i) subpart 3809 of title 43, Code of 

7 Federal Regulations (or successor regula8 tions establishing application and approval 

9 requirements); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) part 228 of title 36, Code of Fed11 eral Regulations (or successor regulations 

12 establishing application and approval re13 quirements). 

14 ‘‘(D) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘public land’ 

15 means land owned by the United States that is 

16 open to location under sections 2319 through 

17 2344 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 22 et 

18 seq.), including— 

19 ‘‘(i) land that is mineral-in-character 

20 (as defined in section 3830.5 of title 43, 

21 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 

22 the date of enactment of this subsection)); 

23 ‘‘(ii) nonmineral land (as defined in 

24 section 3830.5 of title 43, Code of Federal 


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1 Regulations (as in effect on the date of en2 actment of this subsection)); and 

3 ‘‘(iii) land where the mineral character 

4 has not been determined. 

5 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsections 

6 (a) and (b), where public land is needed by the pro7 prietor of a lode or placer claim for operations in 

8 connection with any lode or placer claim within the 

9 proposed plan of operations, the proprietor may— 

10 ‘‘(A) locate and include within the plan of 

11 operations as many mill site claims under this 

12 subsection as are reasonably necessary for its op13 erations; and 

14 ‘‘(B) use or occupy public land in accord15 ance with an approved plan of operations. 

16 ‘‘(3) MILL SITES CONVEY NO MINERAL RIGHTS.— 

17 A mill site under this subsection does not convey min18 eral rights to the locator. 

19 ‘‘(4) SIZE OF MILL SITES.—A location of a sin20 gle mill site under this subsection shall not exceed 5 

21 acres. 

22 ‘‘(5) MILL SITE AND LODE OR PLACER CLAIMS

23 ON SAME TRACTS OF PUBLIC LAND.—A mill site may 

24 be located under this subsection on a tract of public 


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1 land on which the claimant or operator maintains a 

2 previously located lode or placer claim. 

3 ‘‘(6) EFFECT ON MINING CLAIMS.—The location 

4 of a mill site under this subsection shall not affect the 

5 validity of any lode or placer claim, or any rights as6 sociated with such a claim. 

7 ‘‘(7) PATENTING.—A mill site under this section 

8 shall not be eligible for patenting. 

9 ‘‘(8) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Nothing in this sub10 section— 

11 ‘‘(A) diminishes any right (including a 

12 right of entry, use, or occupancy) of a claimant; 

13 ‘‘(B) creates or increases any right (includ14 ing a right of exploration, entry, use, or occu15 pancy) of a claimant on land that is not open 

16 to location under the general mining laws; 

17 ‘‘(C) modifies any provision of law or any 

18 prior administrative action withdrawing land 

19 from location or entry; 

20 ‘‘(D) limits the right of the Federal Govern21 ment to regulate mining and mining-related ac22 tivities (including requiring claim validity ex23 aminations to establish the discovery of a valu24 able mineral deposit) in areas withdrawn from 

25 mining, including under— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the general mining laws; 

2 ‘‘(ii) the Federal Land Policy and 

3 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et 

4 seq.); 

5 ‘‘(iii) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

6 1131 et seq.); 

7 ‘‘(iv) sections 100731 through 100737 

8 of title 54, United States Code; 

9 ‘‘(v) the Endangered Species Act of 

10 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

11 ‘‘(vi) division A of subtitle III of title 

12 54, United States Code (commonly referred 

13 to as the ‘National Historic Preservation 

14 Act’); or 

15 ‘‘(vii) section 4 of the Act of July 23, 

16 1955 (commonly known as the ‘Surface Re17 sources Act of 1955’) (69 Stat. 368, chapter 

18 375; 30 U.S.C. 612); 

19 ‘‘(E) restores any right (including a right of 

20 entry, use, or occupancy, or right to conduct op21 erations) of a claimant that— 

22 ‘‘(i) existed prior to the date on which 

23 the land was closed to, or withdrawn from, 

24 location under the general mining laws; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) that has been extinguished by 

2 such closure or withdrawal; or 

3 ‘‘(F) modifies section 404 of division E of 

4 the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Pub5 lic Law 118–42).’’. 

6 (b) ABANDONED HARDROCK MINE FUND.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

8 the Treasury of the United States a separate account, 

9 to be known as the ‘‘Abandoned Hardrock Mine 

10 Fund’’ (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Fund’’). 

11 (2) SOURCE OF DEPOSITS.—Any amounts col12 lected by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the 

13 claim maintenance fee under section 10101(a)(1) of 

14 the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (30 

15 U.S.C. 28f(a)(1)) on mill sites located under sub16 section (c) of section 2337 of the Revised Statutes (30 

17 U.S.C. 42) shall be deposited into the Fund, to re18 main available until expended. 

19 (3) USE.—The Secretary of the Interior may 

20 make expenditures from amounts available in the 

21 Fund, without further appropriations or fiscal year 

22 limitation, only to carry out section 40704 of the In23 frastructure Investment and Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 

24 1245). 


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1 (4) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Amounts made 

2 available under paragraph (3)— 

3 (A) shall be allocated in accordance with 

4 section 40704(e)(1) of the Infrastructure Invest5 ment and Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1245(e)(1)); 

6 (B) may be transferred in accordance with 

7 section 40704(e)(2) of that Act (30 U.S.C. 

8 1245(e)(2)); and 

9 (C) may be used for the administration of 

10 the Fund and section 40704 of the Infrastructure 

11 Investment and Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1245) in 

12 amounts not to exceed 5 percent of amounts de13 posited into the Fund. 

14 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 10101 of the 

15 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f) 

16 is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘the Mining Law of 1872 (30 

18 U.S.C. 28–28e)’’ each place it appears and inserting 

19 ‘‘sections 2319 through 2344 of the Revised Statutes 

20 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.)’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (a)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

23 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

24 ‘‘Such claim maintenance fee’’ and insert25 ing the following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) FEE.—The claim maintenance fee 

2 under subparagraph (A)’’; and 

3 (ii) in the first sentence, by striking 

4 ‘‘The holder of’’ and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The holder of’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

8 ‘‘Such claim maintenance fee’’ and insert9 ing the following: 

10 ‘‘(B) FEE.—The claim maintenance fee 

11 under subparagraph (A)’’; and 

12 (ii) in the first sentence, by striking 

13 ‘‘The holder of’’ and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The holder of’’; and 

15 (3) in subsection (b)— 

16 (A) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

17 location fee’’ and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) FEE.—The location fee’’; and 

19 (B) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

20 claim main tenance fee’’ and inserting the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The claim maintenance fee’’. 


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1 TITLE III—FEDERAL OFFSHORE 

2 ENERGY LEASING AND PER3 MITTING 

4 SEC. 301. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 

5 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding the 2024–2029 

6 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Pro7 gram (and any successor leasing program that does not sat8 isfy the requirements of this section), the Secretary of the 

9 Interior (referred to in this title as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

10 conduct not less than 1 oil and gas lease sale in each of 

11 calendar years 2025 through 2029, each of which shall be 

12 conducted not later than August 31 of the applicable cal13 endar year. 

14 (b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary shall— 

15 (1) conduct offshore oil and gas lease sales of suf16 ficient acreage to meet the conditions described in sec17 tion 50265(b)(2) of Public Law 117–169 (43 U.S.C. 

18 3006(b)(2)); 

19 (2) with respect to an oil and gas lease sale con20 ducted under subsection (a), offer the same lease form, 

21 lease terms, economic conditions, and stipulations as 

22 contained in the revised final notice of sale entitled 

23 ‘‘Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas 

24 Lease Sale 261’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 80750 (November 20, 

25 2023)); and 


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1 (3) if any acceptable bids have been received for 

2 any tract offered in an oil and gas lease sale con3 ducted under subsection (a), issue such leases not later 

4 than 90 days after the lease sale to the highest bids 

5 on the tracts offered, subject to the procedures de6 scribed in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

7 document entitled ‘‘Summary of Procedures for Deter8 mining Bid Adequacy at Offshore Oil and Gas Lease 

9 Sales Effective March 2016, with Central Gulf of 

10 Mexico Sale 241 and Eastern Gulf of Mexico Sale 

11 226’’. 

12 SEC. 302. OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY. 

13 (a) OFFSHORE WIND LEASE SALE REQUIREMENT.— 

14 Effective on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

15 shall— 

16 (1) subject to the limitations described in section 

17 50265(b)(2) of Public Law 117–169 (43 U.S.C. 

18 3006(b)(2)), conduct not less than 1 offshore wind 

19 lease sale in each of calendar years 2025 through 

20 2029, each of which shall be conducted not later than 

21 August 31 of the applicable calendar year; and 

22 (2) if any acceptable bids have been received for 

23 a tract offered in the lease sale, as determined by the 

24 Secretary, issue such leases not later than 90 days 


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1 after the lease sale to the highest bidder on the offered 

2 tract. 

3 (b) AREA OFFERED FOR LEASING.— 

4 (1) TOTAL ACRES FOR LEASE.—Subject to para5 graph (2), the Secretary shall offer for offshore wind 

6 leasing a sum total of not less than 400,000 acres per 

7 calendar year. 

8 (2) MINIMUM ACREAGE.—An offshore wind lease 

9 issued by the Secretary that is less than 80,000 acres 

10 shall not be counted toward the acreage requirement 

11 under paragraph (1). 

12 (c) PRODUCTION GOAL FOR OFFSHORE WIND EN13 ERGY.— 

14 (1) INITIAL GOAL.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

16 shall establish an initial target date for an offshore 

17 wind energy production goal of 30 gigawatts. 

18 (2) PERIODIC GOAL REVISION.—The Secretary 

19 shall, in consultation with the heads of other relevant 

20 Federal agencies, periodically revise national goals for 

21 offshore wind energy production on the outer Conti22 nental Shelf as initially established under paragraph 

23 (1). 


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1 (d) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT.—Sec2 tion 8(p) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

3 U.S.C. 1337(p)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (4)(I), by striking ‘‘prevention 

5 of interference with reasonable uses’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘prevention of unreasonable interference with other 

7 uses’’; 

8 (2) by striking paragraph (10) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(10) APPLICABILITY.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

12 subparagraph (B), this subsection does not apply 

13 to any area on the outer Continental Shelf with14 in the exterior boundaries of any unit of the Na15 tional Park System, the National Wildlife Refuge 

16 System, the National Marine Sanctuary System, 

17 or any National Monument. 

18 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub19 paragraph (A), the Secretary, in consultation 

20 with the Secretary of Commerce under section 

21 304(d) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act 

22 (16 U.S.C. 1434(d)), may grant rights-of-way on 

23 the outer Continental Shelf within units of the 

24 National Marine Sanctuary System for the 


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1 transmission of electricity generated by or pro2 duced from renewable energy.’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(11) DURATION OF PERMITS IN MARINE SANC5 TUARIES.—Notwithstanding section 310(c)(2) of the 

6 National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 

7 1441(c)(2)), any permit or authorization granted 

8 under that Act that authorizes the installation, oper9 ation, or maintenance of electric transmission cables 

10 on a right-of-way granted by the Secretary described 

11 in paragraph (10)(B) shall be issued for a term equal 

12 to the duration of the right-of-way granted by the 

13 Secretary.’’. 

14 (e) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section, or an 

15 amendment made by this section, modifies the limitations 

16 described in section 50265(b)(2) of Public Law 117–169 (43 

17 U.S.C. 3006(b)(2)). 

18 TITLE IV—ELECTRIC 

19 TRANSMISSION 

20 SEC. 401. TRANSMISSION PERMITTING. 

21 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 216 of the Federal Power 

22 Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended by striking subsection (a) 

23 and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 

2 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

3 ‘‘(2) IMPROVED RELIABILITY.—The term ‘im4 proved reliability’ has the meaning given the term in 

5 section 225(a). 

6 ‘‘(3) LANDOWNER INPUT.—The term ‘landowner 

7 input’ means input received— 

8 ‘‘(A) by the Commission; 

9 ‘‘(B) from affected landowners, such as 

10 farmers and ranchers, in the path of the pro11 posed construction or modification of an electric 

12 transmission facility; and 

13 ‘‘(C) pursuant to notification provided to, 

14 and consultation with, those affected landowners, 

15 farmers, and ranchers by the Commission. 

16 ‘‘(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

17 the Secretary of Energy.’’. 

18 (b) CONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—Section 216(b) of the 

19 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(b)) is amended— 

20 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

21 striking ‘‘Except’’ and all that follows through ‘‘finds 

22 that’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub23 sections (d)(1) and (i), the Commission may, after 

24 notice and an opportunity for hearing, including a 

25 public comment period of at least 60 days, issue one 


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1 or more permits for the construction or modification 

2 of electric transmission facilities necessary in the na3 tional interest if the Commission finds that’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

5 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting 

6 ‘‘or modification’’ after ‘‘siting’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 

8 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

9 by inserting ‘‘or modification’’ after 

10 ‘‘siting’’; and 

11 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the later 

12 of’’ in the matter preceding subclause (I) 

13 and all that follows through the semicolon 

14 at the end of subclause (II) and inserting 

15 ‘‘the date on which the application was filed 

16 with the State commission or other entity;’’; 

17 and 

18 (3) by striking paragraphs (2) through (6) and 

19 inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) the proposed facilities will be used for the 

21 transmission of electric energy in interstate (includ22 ing transmission from the outer Continental Shelf to 

23 a State) or foreign commerce; 

24 ‘‘(3) the proposed construction or modification is 

25 consistent with the public interest; 


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1 ‘‘(4) the proposed construction or modification 

2 will significantly reduce transmission congestion in 

3 interstate commerce, protect or benefit consumers, and 

4 provide improved reliability; 

5 ‘‘(5) the proposed construction or modification is 

6 consistent with sound national energy policy and will 

7 enhance energy independence; 

8 ‘‘(6) the electric transmission facilities are capa9 ble of transmitting electric energy at a voltage of not 

10 less than 100 kilovolts or, in the case of facilities that 

11 include advanced transmission conductors (including 

12 superconductors), as defined by the Commission, 

13 voltages determined to be appropriate by the Commis14 sion; and 

15 ‘‘(7) the proposed modification (including 

16 reconductoring) will maximize, to the extent reason17 able and economical, the transmission capabilities of 

18 existing towers, structures, or rights-of-way.’’. 

19 (c) STATE SITING AND CONSULTATION.—Section 216 

20 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended by 

21 striking subsection (d) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(d) STATE SITING AND CONSULTATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) PRESERVATION OF STATE SITING AUTHOR24 ITY.—The Commission shall have no authority to 

25 issue a permit under subsection (b) for the construcVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00129 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 tion or modification of an electric transmission facil2 ity within a State except as provided in paragraph 

3 (1) of that subsection. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In any proceeding before 

5 the Commission under subsection (b), the Commission 

6 shall afford each State in which a transmission facil7 ity covered by the permit is or will be located, each 

8 affected Federal agency and Indian Tribe, private 

9 property owners, and other interested persons, a rea10 sonable opportunity to present their views and rec11 ommendations with respect to the need for and im12 pact of a facility covered by the permit. 

13 ‘‘(3) LANDOWNER INPUT.—In authorizing the 

14 construction or modification of an electric trans15 mission facility under subsection (b), the Commission 

16 shall take into account landowner input.’’. 

17 (d) RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Section 216(e)(3) of the Federal 

18 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(e)(3)) is amended by striking 

19 ‘‘shall conform’’ and all that follows through the period at 

20 the end and inserting ‘‘shall be in accordance with rule 71.1 

21 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.’’. 

22 (e) COST ALLOCATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 216 of the Federal 

24 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended by striking 

25 subsection (f) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) COST ALLOCATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION TARIFFS.—For the purposes 

3 of this section, any transmitting utility that owns, 

4 controls, or operates electric transmission facilities 

5 that the Commission finds to be consistent with the 

6 findings under paragraphs (2) through (6) and, if ap7 plicable, (7) of subsection (b) shall file a tariff or tar8 iff revision with the Commission pursuant to section 

9 205 and the regulations of the Commission allocating 

10 the costs of the new or modified transmission facili11 ties. 

12 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION BENEFITS.—The Commis13 sion shall require that tariffs or tariff revisions filed 

14 under this subsection are just and reasonable and al15 locate the costs of providing service to customers that 

16 benefit, in accordance with the cost-causation prin17 ciple, including through— 

18 ‘‘(A) improved reliability; 

19 ‘‘(B) reduced congestion; 

20 ‘‘(C) reduced power losses; 

21 ‘‘(D) greater carrying capacity; 

22 ‘‘(E) reduced operating reserve require23 ments; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) improved access to lower cost genera2 tion that achieves reductions in the cost of deliv3 ered power. 

4 ‘‘(3) RATEPAYER PROTECTION.—Customers that 

5 receive no benefit, or benefits that are trivial in rela6 tion to the costs sought to be allocated, from electric 

7 transmission facilities constructed or modified under 

8 this section shall not be involuntarily allocated any 

9 of the costs of those transmission facilities, provided, 

10 however, that nothing in this section shall prevent a 

11 transmitting utility from recovering such costs 

12 through voluntary agreement with its customers.’’. 

13 (2) SAVINGS PROVISION.—If the Federal Energy 

14 Regulatory Commission finds that the considerations 

15 under paragraphs (2) through (6) and, if applicable, 

16 (7) of subsection (b) of section 216 of the Federal 

17 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) (as amended by sub18 section (b)) are met, nothing in this section or the 

19 amendments made by this section shall be construed 

20 to exclude transmission facilities located on the outer 

21 Continental Shelf from being eligible for cost alloca22 tion established under subsection (f)(1) of that section 

23 (as amended by paragraph (1)). 


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1 (f) COORDINATION OF FEDERAL AUTHORIZATIONS FOR

2 TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.—Section 216(h) of the Federal 

3 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(h)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

5 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, except that— 

6 ‘‘(A) the Commission shall act as the lead agency 

7 in the case of facilities permitted under subsection (b) 

8 and section 225; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the Department of the Interior shall act as 

10 the lead agency in the case of facilities located on a 

11 lease, easement, or right-of-way granted by the Sec12 retary of the Interior under section 8(p)(1)(C) of the 

13 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

14 1337(p)(1)(C)).’’; 

15 (2) in each of paragraphs (3), (4)(B), (4)(C), 

16 (5)(B), (6)(A), (7)(A), (7)(B)(i), (8)(A)(i), and (9), by 

17 striking ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it appears and insert18 ing ‘‘lead agency’’; 

19 (3) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘As head of 

20 the lead agency, the Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

21 lead agency’’; 

22 (4) in paragraph (5)(A), by striking ‘‘As lead 

23 agency head, the Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘The lead 

24 agency’’; and 

25 (5) in paragraph (7)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘18 

2 months after the date of enactment of this sec3 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘18 months after the date of 

4 enactment of the Energy Permitting Reform Act 

5 of 2024’’; and 

6 (B) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ‘‘1 

7 year after the date of enactment of this section’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘18 months after the date of enact9 ment of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 

10 2024’’. 

11 (g) INTERSTATE COMPACTS.—Section 216(i) of the 

12 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(i)) is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, including 

14 facilities in national interest electric transmission 

15 corridors’’; and 

16 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 

18 and’’ and inserting a period; 

19 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

20 (C) by striking ‘‘in disagreement’’ in the 

21 matter preceding subparagraph (A) and all that 

22 follows through ‘‘(A) the’’ in subparagraph (A) 

23 and inserting ‘‘unable to reach an agreement on 

24 an application seeking approval by the’’. 


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1 (h) TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT.— 

2 Section 219(b)(4) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

3 824s(b)(4)) is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

5 the semicolon at the end; 

6 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

7 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(C) all prudently incurred costs associated 

10 with payments to jurisdictions impacted by elec11 tric transmission facilities developed pursuant to 

12 section 216 or 225.’’. 

13 (i) JURISDICTION.—Section 216 of the Federal Power 

14 Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended by striking subsection (k) 

15 and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(k) JURISDICTION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) ERCOT.—This section shall not apply 

18 within the area referred to in section 212(k)(2)(A). 

19 ‘‘(2) OTHER UTILITIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of this 

21 section, the Commission shall have jurisdiction 

22 over all transmitting utilities, including trans23 mitting utilities described in section 201(f), but 

24 excluding any ERCOT utility (as defined in sec25 tion 212(k)(2)(B)). 


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1 ‘‘(B) CLARIFICATION.—Being subject to 

2 Commission jurisdiction for the purposes of this 

3 section shall not make an entity described in sec4 tion 201(f) a public utility for the purposes of 

5 section 201(e).’’. 

6 (j) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

7 (1) Section 50151(b) of Public Law 117–169 (42 

8 U.S.C. 18715(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘facilities 

9 designated by the Secretary to be necessary in the na10 tional interest under section 216(a) of the Federal 

11 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(a))’’ and inserting ‘‘fa12 cilities in a geographic area identified under section 

13 224 of the Federal Power Act’’. 

14 (2) Section 1222 of the Energy Policy Act of 

15 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16421) is amended— 

16 (A) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘in 

17 a national interest electric transmission corridor 

18 designated under section 216(a)’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘in a geographic area identified under section 

20 224’’; and 

21 (B) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘in 

22 an area designated under section 216(a)’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘in a geographic area identified under 

24 section 224’’. 


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1 (3) Section 40106(h)(1)(A) of the Infrastructure 

2 Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18713(h)(1)(A)) 

3 is amended by striking ‘‘in an area designated as a 

4 national interest electric transmission corridor pursu5 ant to section 216(a) of the Federal Power Act 16 

6 U.S.C. 824p(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘in a geographic area 

7 identified under section 224 of the Federal Power 

8 Act’’. 

9 (k) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section or 

10 an amendment made by this section grants authority to the 

11 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Federal 

12 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) over sales of electric 

13 energy at retail or the local distribution of electricity. 

14 SEC. 402. TRANSMISSION PLANNING. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of the Federal Power Act 

16 (16 U.S.C. 824 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 224. TRANSMISSION STUDY. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of enactment of this section and every 3 years there21 after, the Secretary of Energy (referred to in this section 

22 as the ‘Secretary’), in consultation with affected States and 

23 Indian Tribes, shall conduct a study of electric trans24 mission capacity constraints and congestion. 


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1 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not less frequently than once every 3 

2 years, the Secretary, after considering alternatives and rec3 ommendations from interested parties (including an oppor4 tunity for comment from affected States and Indian 

5 Tribes), shall issue a report, based on the study under sub6 section (a) or other information relating to electric trans7 mission capacity constraints and congestion, which may 

8 identify any geographic area that— 

9 ‘‘(1) is experiencing electric energy transmission 

10 capacity constraints or congestion that adversely af11 fects consumers; or 

12 ‘‘(2) is expected to experience such energy trans13 mission capacity constraints or congestion. 

14 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—Not less frequently than once 

15 every 3 years, the Secretary, in conducting the study under 

16 subsection (a) and issuing the report under subsection (b), 

17 shall consult with affected transmission planning regions 

18 (as defined in section 225(a)) and any appropriate regional 

19 entity referred to in section 215. 

20 ‘‘(d) ALASKA.—The Secretary— 

21 ‘‘(1) shall, in consultation with the State of Alas22 ka and affected Indian Tribes, consider any intrastate 

23 transmission capacity constraints and congestion 

24 within the State of Alaska in the study under sub25 section (a); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) in issuing the report under subsection (b), 

2 may, subject to the approval of the Regulatory Com3 mission of Alaska, identify any geographic area in 

4 the State of Alaska that— 

5 ‘‘(A) is experiencing electric energy trans6 mission capacity constraints or congestion that 

7 adversely affects consumers; or 

8 ‘‘(B) is expected to experience such energy 

9 transmission capacity constraints or congestion. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 225. PLANNING FOR TRANSMISSION FACILITIES THAT 

11 ENHANCE GRID RELIABILITY, AFFORD12 ABILITY, AND RESILIENCE. 

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 

15 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

16 ‘‘(2) ERO.—The term ‘ERO’ has the meaning 

17 given the term in section 215(a). 

18 ‘‘(3) IMPROVED RELIABILITY.—The term ‘im19 proved reliability’ means that, on balance, consid20 ering each of the matters described in subparagraphs 

21 (A) through (D), reliability is improved in a material 

22 manner that benefits customers through at least one 

23 of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) facilitating compliance with a manda2 tory standard for reliability approved by the 

3 Commission under section 215; 

4 ‘‘(B) a reduction in expected unserved en5 ergy, loss of load hours, or loss of load prob6 ability (as defined by the ERO); 

7 ‘‘(C) facilitating compliance with a tariff 

8 requirement or process for resource adequacy on 

9 file with the Commission; and 

10 ‘‘(D) any other similar material improve11 ment, including a reduction in correlated outage 

12 risk, such as achieved through increased geo13 graphic or resource diversification. 

14 ‘‘(4) INTERREGIONAL TRANSMISSION FACILITY.— 

15 The term ‘interregional transmission facility’ means 

16 a transmission facility that— 

17 ‘‘(A) is located within 2 or more neigh18 boring transmission planning regions; or 

19 ‘‘(B) significantly impacts the ability of 1 

20 or more transmission planning regions to trans21 mit electric energy among neighboring trans22 mission planning regions. 

23 ‘‘(5) TRANSMISSION PLANNING REGION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘transmission 

25 planning region’— 


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1 ‘‘(i) when used in a geographical sense, 

2 means a region for which the Commission 

3 determines that electric transmission plan4 ning is appropriate, such as a region estab5 lished in accordance with Order No. 1000 of 

6 the Commission, entitled ‘Transmission 

7 Planning and Cost Allocation by Trans8 mission Owning and Operating Public 

9 Utilities’ (76 Fed. Reg. 49842 (August 11, 

10 2011)); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) when used in a corporate sense, 

12 means the Transmission Organization or 

13 other entity responsible for planning or op14 erating electric transmission facilities with15 in a region described in clause (i). 

16 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘transmission 

17 planning region’ does not include the Electric 

18 Reliability Council of Texas or the region served 

19 by members of the Electric Reliability Council of 

20 Texas. 

21 ‘‘(b) JURISDICTION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ERCOT.—This section shall not apply 

23 within the area referred to in section 212(k)(2)(A). 

24 ‘‘(2) OTHER UTILITIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of this 

2 section, the Commission shall have jurisdiction 

3 over all transmitting utilities, including trans4 mitting utilities described in section 201(f), but 

5 excluding any ERCOT utility (as defined in sec6 tion 212(k)(2)(B)). 

7 ‘‘(B) CLARIFICATION.—Being subject to 

8 Commission jurisdiction for the purposes of this 

9 section shall not make an entity described in sec10 tion 201(f) a public utility for the purposes of 

11 section 201(e). 

12 ‘‘(c) RULEMAKING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

13 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the 

14 Commission shall, consistent with the requirements of this 

15 section, by rule— 

16 ‘‘(1) require neighboring transmission planning 

17 regions to jointly plan with each other; 

18 ‘‘(2) require each transmission planning region 

19 to submit to the Commission for approval a joint 

20 interregional transmission plan with each of its 

21 neighboring transmission planning regions, which re22 quirement may, at the discretion of the transmission 

23 planning region, be satisfied through the submission 

24 of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a separate joint interregional trans2 mission plan with each of its neighboring trans3 mission planning regions; or 

4 ‘‘(B) 1 or more joint interregional trans5 mission plans, any of which may be submitted 

6 with any 1 or more of its neighboring trans7 mission planning regions; and 

8 ‘‘(3) establish rate treatments for interregional 

9 transmission planning and cost allocation. 

10 ‘‘(d) PLAN ELEMENTS.—The Commission shall re11 quire, within the rule under subsection (c), that joint inter12 regional transmission plans contain the following elements: 

13 ‘‘(1) COMPATIBILITY.—A common set of input 

14 assumptions and models, on a consistent timeline, 

15 that— 

16 ‘‘(A) allow for the joint identification and 

17 selection, by transmission planning regions, of 

18 specific interregional transmission facilities for 

19 construction or modification, including through 

20 the use of advanced transmission conductors (in21 cluding superconductors) and reconductoring; 

22 ‘‘(B) consider, to the extent reasonable and 

23 economical, modifications that maximize the 

24 transmission capabilities of existing towers, 

25 structures, or rights-of-way; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) consider existing transmission plans. 

2 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION BENEFITS.—A common set 

3 of benefits for interregional transmission planning 

4 and cost allocation, including— 

5 ‘‘(A) improved reliability; 

6 ‘‘(B) reduced congestion; 

7 ‘‘(C) reduced power losses; 

8 ‘‘(D) greater carrying capacity; 

9 ‘‘(E) reduced operating reserve require10 ments; and 

11 ‘‘(F) improved access to lower cost genera12 tion that achieves reductions in the cost of deliv13 ered power. 

14 ‘‘(3) SELECTION CRITERIA.—Criteria governing 

15 the selection by transmission planning regions, for 

16 construction or modification, of interregional trans17 mission facilities that— 

18 ‘‘(A) provide improved reliability; 

19 ‘‘(B) protect or benefit consumers; and 

20 ‘‘(C) are consistent with the public interest. 

21 ‘‘(e) DEADLINE; UPDATES.—The joint interregional 

22 transmission plans required to be submitted to the Commis23 sion pursuant to the rule under subsection (c) shall be— 


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1 ‘‘(1) submitted to the Commission not later than 

2 2 years after the date of enactment of this section; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(2) updated not less frequently than once every 

5 4 years. 

6 ‘‘(f) COMMISSION REVIEW.—The Commission shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) review each joint interregional transmission 

8 plan submitted pursuant to the rule under subsection 

9 (c); and 

10 ‘‘(2) approve the joint interregional transmission 

11 plan if the Commission finds that the plan— 

12 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements of subsection 

13 (d); 

14 ‘‘(B) allocates costs in accordance with sub15 section (g); 

16 ‘‘(C) ensures that all rates, charges, terms, 

17 and conditions will be just and reasonable and 

18 not unduly discriminatory or preferential; and 

19 ‘‘(D) is consistent with the public interest. 

20 ‘‘(g) COST ALLOCATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION TARIFFS.—For the purposes 

22 of this section, any transmitting utility that owns, 

23 controls, or operates electric transmission facilities 

24 constructed or modified as a result of this section 

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1 sion pursuant to section 205 and the regulations of 

2 the Commission allocating the costs of the new or 

3 modified transmission facilities. 

4 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—The Commission shall re5 quire that tariffs or tariff revisions filed under this 

6 section are just and reasonable and allocate the costs 

7 of providing service to customers that benefit, in ac8 cordance with the cost-causation principle, including 

9 through the benefits described in subsection (d)(2). 

10 ‘‘(3) RATEPAYER PROTECTION.—Customers that 

11 receive no benefit, or benefits that are trivial in rela12 tion to the costs sought to be allocated, from electric 

13 transmission facilities constructed or modified under 

14 this section shall not be involuntarily allocated any 

15 of the costs of those transmission facilities. 

16 ‘‘(h) CONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—For the purposes of ob17 taining a construction permit under section 216(b), a 

18 project that is selected by transmission planning regions 

19 pursuant to a joint interregional transmission plan shall 

20 be considered to satisfy paragraphs (2) through (6) and, 

21 if applicable, (7) of that section. 

22 ‘‘(i) DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—In the event of a dispute 

23 between transmission planning regions with respect to a 

24 material element of a joint interregional transmission 

25 plan— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the transmission planning regions shall sub2 mit to the Commission their respective proposals for 

3 resolving the material element in dispute for resolu4 tion; and 

5 ‘‘(2) not later than 60 days after the proposals 

6 are submitted under paragraph (1), the Commission 

7 shall issue an order directing a resolution to the dis8 pute. 

9 ‘‘(j) FAILURE TO SUBMIT PLAN.—In the event that 

10 neighboring transmission planning regions fail to submit 

11 to the Commission a joint interregional transmission plan 

12 under this section, the Commission shall, as the Commission 

13 determines to be appropriate— 

14 ‘‘(1) grant a request to extend the time for sub15 mission of the joint interregional transmission plan; 

16 or 

17 ‘‘(2) require, by order, the transmitting utilities 

18 within the affected transmission planning regions to 

19 comply with a joint interregional transmission plan 

20 approved by the Commission— 

21 ‘‘(A) based on the record of the planning 

22 process conducted by the affected transmission 

23 planning regions; and 

24 ‘‘(B) in accordance with the cost allocation 

25 provisions in subsection (g). 


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1 ‘‘(k) NEPA.—For purposes of the National Environ2 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)— 

3 ‘‘(1) any approval of a joint interregional trans4 mission plan under subsection (f) or (j) or order di5 recting resolution of a dispute under subsection (i) 

6 shall not be considered a major Federal action; and 

7 ‘‘(2) any permit granted under section 216(b) for 

8 a project that is selected by transmission planning re9 gions pursuant to a joint interregional transmission 

10 plan shall be considered a major Federal action. 

11 ‘‘(l) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Except as expressly pro12 vided in this section, nothing in this section shall be con13 strued as conferring, limiting, or impairing any authority 

14 of the Commission under any other provision of law.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 201 of the 

16 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 

18 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘and 

19 222’’ and inserting ‘‘222, and 225’’; and 

20 (B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘or 

21 222’’ and inserting ‘‘222, or 225’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (e)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘206(f),’’; and 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘or 222’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘222, or 225’’. 


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1 (c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section or 

2 an amendment made by this section grants authority to the 

3 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Federal 

4 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) over sales of electric 

5 energy at retail or the local distribution of electricity. 

6 TITLE V—ELECTRIC RELIABILITY 

7 SEC. 501. RELIABILITY ASSESSMENTS. 

8 Section 215 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o) 

9 is amended by striking subsection (g) and inserting the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(g) RELIABILITY REPORTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) PERIODIC ASSESSMENTS.—The ERO shall 

13 conduct periodic assessments of the reliability and 

14 adequacy of the bulk-power system in North America. 

15 ‘‘(2) RELIABILITY ASSESSMENTS FOR REGULA16 TIONS.—(A) Whenever the Commission determines, on 

17 its own motion or on request from another Federal 

18 agency, an affected transmission organization, or any 

19 State commission, that a rule, regulation, or standard 

20 proposed by a Federal agency other than the Commis21 sion is likely to result in a violation of a tariff re22 quirement or process for resource adequacy on file 

23 with the Commission or a mandatory standard for re24 liability approved by the Commission, the Commis25 sion shall require, by order, the ERO to assess and 


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1 report on the effects of the proposed rule, regulation, 

2 or standard on the reliable operation of the bulk3 power system. 

4 ‘‘(B) An ERO reliability assessment ordered 

5 under subparagraph (A) shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) identify any reasonably foreseeable sig7 nificant adverse effects on the reliable operation 

8 of the bulk-power system that the ERO antici9 pates will result from the proposed rule, regula10 tion, or standard; 

11 ‘‘(ii) account for mitigations that will be 

12 available under existing rules, regulations, or 

13 tariffs governing facilities of the bulk-power sys14 tem under this Act that will reduce or prevent 

15 significant adverse effects on the reliable oper16 ation of the bulk-power system from the proposed 

17 rule, regulation, or standard; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) take into account the technical views 

19 of affected transmission organizations regarding 

20 effects on the reliable operation of the bulk-power 

21 system from the proposed rule, regulation, or 

22 standard. 

23 ‘‘(C) The ERO shall— 

24 ‘‘(i) submit the report required under sub25 paragraph (A) to the public docket of the Federal 


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1 agency proposing the rule, regulation, or stand2 ard, and, if practicable, make such submission 

3 within the time period established by such Fed4 eral agency for submission of public comments 

5 on the proposed rule, regulation, or standard; 

6 ‘‘(ii) submit such report to the Commission; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(iii) publish such report in a publicly 

9 available format. 

10 ‘‘(D) This paragraph shall apply to proposed 

11 rules, regulations, or standards pending on, or pro12 posed on or after, the date of enactment of this para13 graph.’’. 

14 TITLE VI—LIQUEFIED NATURAL 

15 GAS EXPORTS 

16 SEC. 601. ACTION ON APPLICATIONS. 

17 Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (e)(3)(A), by inserting ‘‘and 

20 subsection (g)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(g) DEADLINE TO ACT ON CERTAIN EXPORT APPLI23 CATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall grant 

25 or deny an application under subsection (a) to export 


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1 to a foreign country any natural gas from the United 

2 States not later than 90 days after the later of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the date on which the notice of avail4 ability for each final review required under the 

5 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

6 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for the exporting facility is 

7 published with respect to an application— 

8 ‘‘(i) under subsection (e); or 

9 ‘‘(ii) for a license for the ownership, 

10 construction, or operation of a deepwater 

11 port, under section 4 of the Deepwater Port 

12 Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1503); and 

13 ‘‘(B) the date of enactment of this sub14 section. 

15 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS TO RE-EXPORT.—The Com16 mission shall grant or deny an application under 

17 subsection (a) to re-export to another foreign country 

18 any natural gas that has been exported from the 

19 United States to Canada or Mexico for liquefaction in 

20 Canada or Mexico, or the territorial waters of Can21 ada or Mexico, not later than 90 days after the later 

22 of— 

23 ‘‘(A) the date on which the notice of avail24 ability for each draft review required under the 

25 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for the application is pub2 lished; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the date of enactment of this sub4 section. 

5 ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS FOR EXTENSIONS.—The 

6 Commission shall grant or deny an application for 

7 an extension of a previously issued authorization to 

8 export natural gas described in paragraph (1) or (2) 

9 not later than 90 days after the later of— 

10 ‘‘(A) the date the application for extension 

11 is received by the Commission; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the date of enactment of this sub13 section. 

14 ‘‘(4) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Commission fails 

15 to grant or deny an application subject to this sub16 section by the applicable date required by this sub17 section, the application shall be considered to be 

18 granted and a final agency order.’’. 

19 SEC. 602. SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEWS. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) 2018 LNG EXPORT STUDY.—The term ‘‘2018 

22 LNG Export Study’’ means the report entitled ‘‘Mac23 roeconomic Outcomes of Market Determined Levels of 

24 U.S. LNG Exports’’, prepared by NERA Economic 

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1 oratory of the Department of Energy, published June 

2 7, 2018. 

3 (2) 2019 LIFE CYCLE GHG REVIEW.—The term 

4 ‘‘2019 Life Cycle GHG Review’’ means the report en5 titled ‘‘Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Perspective on Ex6 porting Liquefied Natural Gas from the United 

7 States’’, prepared by S. Roman-White, S. Rai, J. 

8 Littlefield, G. Cooney, and T. J. Skone for the Na9 tional Energy Technology Laboratory of the Depart10 ment of Energy, published September 12, 2019. 

11 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Energy. 

13 (4) SUPPLEMENTAL GREENHOUSE GAS RE14 VIEW.—The term ‘‘supplemental greenhouse gas re15 view’’ means a review prepared or commissioned by 

16 the Department of Energy and published after Janu17 ary 26, 2024, that analyzes the life cycle greenhouse 

18 gas emissions of liquefied natural gas exports from 

19 the United States, including consideration of the mod20 eling parameters used in the 2019 Life Cycle GHG 

21 Review. 

22 (5) SUPPLEMENTAL MACROECONOMIC REVIEW.— 

23 The term ‘‘supplemental macroeconomic review’’ 

24 means a review prepared or commissioned by the De25 partment of Energy and published after January 26, 


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1 2024, that analyzes the macroeconomic outcomes of 

2 different levels of liquefied natural gas exports from 

3 the United States, including consideration of the nat4 ural gas market factors and macroeconomic factors 

5 analyzed in the 2018 LNG Export Study. 

6 (6) SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEW.—The term ‘‘supple7 mental review’’ means a supplemental greenhouse gas 

8 review or a supplemental macroeconomic review. 

9 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEWS.— 

10 (1) NOTICE AND COMMENT ON PROPOSED SUP11 PLEMENTAL REVIEWS.—Before finalizing a supple12 mental review, the Secretary shall publish a notice of 

13 availability of the proposed supplemental review in 

14 the Federal Register pursuant to the notice and com15 ment provisions of section 553 of title 5, United 

16 States Code. 

17 (2) QUALITY OF SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEWS.—A 

18 supplemental review shall be subject to a peer review 

19 process consistent with the final bulletin of the Office 

20 of Management and Budget entitled ‘‘Final Informa21 tion Quality Bulletin for Peer Review’’ (70 Fed. Reg. 

22 2664 (January 14, 2005)) (or successor guidance). 

23 (3) PENDING APPLICATIONS.—For a review of an 

24 application to grant, deny, or extend an order under 

25 section 3(a) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 


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1 717b(a)) to export to a foreign country any natural 

2 gas from an LNG terminal in the United States or 

3 from a facility subject to section 4 of the Deepwater 

4 Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1503), or to re-export to 

5 another foreign country any natural gas that has 

6 been exported from the United States to Canada or 

7 Mexico for liquefaction in Canada or Mexico, or the 

8 territorial waters of Canada or Mexico, the Secretary 

9 shall base any evaluation of— 

10 (A) macroeconomic outcomes on the results 

11 of the 2018 LNG Export Study, or predecessor 

12 documents, unless and until the Secretary final13 izes and implements a supplemental macro14 economic review; and 

15 (B) life cycle greenhouse gas emissions on 

16 the results of the 2019 Life Cycle GHG Review, 

17 or predecessor documents, unless and until the 

18 Secretary finalizes and implements a supple19 mental greenhouse gas review. 

20 TITLE VII—HYDROPOWER 

21 SEC. 701. HYDROPOWER LICENSE EXTENSIONS. 

22 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED PROJECT.—In this sec23 tion, the term ‘‘covered project’’ means a hydropower project 

24 with respect to which the Federal Energy Regulatory Com25 mission issued a license before March 13, 2020. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF EXTENSION.—Notwith2 standing section 13 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

3 806), on the request of a licensee of a covered project, the 

4 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may, after reason5 able notice and for good cause shown, extend in accordance 

6 with subsection (c) the period during which the licensee is 

7 required to commence construction of the covered project for 

8 an additional 4 years beyond the 8 years authorized by that 

9 section. 

10 (c) PERIOD OF EXTENSION.—An extension of time to 

11 commence construction of a covered project under subsection 

12 (b) shall— 

13 (1) begin on the date on which the final exten14 sion of the period for commencement of construction 

15 granted to the licensee under section 13 of the Federal 

16 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 806) expires; and 

17 (2) end on the date that is 4 years after the lat18 est date to which the Federal Energy Regulatory 

19 Commission is authorized to extend the period for 

20 commencement of construction under that section. 

21 (d) REINSTATEMENT OF EXPIRED LICENSE.—If the 

22 time period required under section 13 of the Federal Power 

23 Act (16 U.S.C. 806) to commence construction of a covered 

24 project expires after December 31, 2023, and before the date 

25 of enactment of this Act— 


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1 (1) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

2 may reinstate the license for the applicable project ef3 fective as of the date of expiration of the license; and 

4 (2) the extension authorized under subsection (b) 

5 shall take effect on the date of that expiration. 

6 SEC. 702. IDENTIFYING AND REMOVING MARKET BARRIERS 

7 TO HYDROPOWER. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

10 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

11 (2) WATER POWER TECHNOLOGIES.—The term 

12 ‘‘water power technologies’’ means hydropower in all 

13 its forms and modes of operation, including— 

14 (A) conventional water power projects that 

15 use dams, conduits, or similar infrastructure to 

16 store, divert, or impound water to generate elec17 tricity; and 

18 (B) marine and hydrokinetic technologies 

19 that use— 

20 (i) waves, tides, and currents; or 

21 (ii) temperature differentials in oceans, 

22 estuaries, tidal areas, rivers, lakes, streams, 

23 or manmade channels. 

24 (b) REPORT ON HYDROPOWER MARKET BARRIERS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission, in 

3 consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall sub4 mit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re5 sources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy 

6 and Commerce of the House of Representatives a re7 port— 

8 (A) describing any market barriers to the 

9 development and proper compensation of conven10 tional, storage, conduit, and emerging hydro11 power technologies related to— 

12 (i) rules of Transmission Organiza13 tions (as defined in section 3 of the Federal 

14 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796)); 

15 (ii) regulations or policies— 

16 (I) of the Commission; or 

17 (II) under the Federal Power Act 

18 (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.); or 

19 (iii) other Federal and State laws and 

20 policies unique to hydropower development, 

21 operation, and regulation, as compared to 

22 other sources of electricity; 

23 (B) containing recommendations of the 

24 Commission for reducing market barriers de25 scribed in subparagraph (A); 


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1 (C) identifying and determining any regu2 latory, market, procurement, or cost recovery 

3 mechanisms that would— 

4 (i) encourage development of conven5 tional, storage, conduit, and emerging hy6 dropower technologies; and 

7 (ii) properly compensate conventional, 

8 storage, conduit, and emerging hydropower 

9 technologies for the full range of services 

10 provided to the electric grid, including— 

11 (I) balancing electricity supply 

12 and demand; 

13 (II) ensuring grid reliability; 

14 (III) providing ancillary services; 

15 (IV) contributing to the 

16 decarbonization of the electric grid; 

17 and 

18 (V) integrating intermittent 

19 power sources into the grid in a cost20 effective manner; and 

21 (D) identifying ownership and development 

22 models that could reduce market barriers to the 

23 development of conventional, storage, conduit, 

24 and emerging hydropower technologies, includ25 ing— 


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1 (i) opportunities for risk-sharing mech2 anisms and partnerships, including co-own3 ership models; and 

4 (ii) opportunities to foster lease-sale 

5 and lease-back arrangements with publicly 

6 owned electric utilities. 

7 (2) TECHNICAL CONFERENCE AND PUBLIC COM8 MENT.—In preparing the report under paragraph (1), 

9 the Commission shall solicit public input, including 

10 by convening a technical conference and providing an 

11 opportunity for public submission of written com12 ments on a draft report. 

13 SEC. 703. REGULATIONS TO ALIGN TIMETABLES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory 

16 Commission (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Commis17 sion’’) shall issue regulations under part I of the Federal 

18 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 et seq.), as the Commission deter19 mines to be appropriate, that seek to ensure all original 

20 licensing and relicensing decisions under that part may be 

21 made by the date that is not later than 180 days after the 

22 date on which an environmental document prepared in 

23 compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 

24 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) is published with respect to 

25 the applicable project. 


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1 (b) REPORTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

3 the date on which the regulations required under sub4 section (a) are issued, the Commission shall submit to 

5 Congress a report describing any regulations outside 

6 of the jurisdiction of the Commission, and any rel7 evant statutory requirements, that would prevent a 

8 project from meeting the timetables established pursu9 ant to those regulations. 

10 (2) ANNUAL REPORT UNDER NEPA.—The Com11 mission shall include in each annual report submitted 

12 under section 107(h) of the National Environmental 

13 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4336a(h)) a description 

14 of— 

15 (A) all licensing and relicensing applica16 tions that failed to meet the applicable timetable 

17 established pursuant to subsection (a) during the 

18 period covered by the report; and 

19 (B) the reasons for each failure to meet that 

20 timetable. 

21 (c) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section modifies the obli22 gations of the Commission or any other agency under— 

23 (1) the National Environmental Policy Act of 

24 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 


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1 (2) the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et 

2 seq.); or 

3 (3) any other Federal law. 

4 TITLE VIII—HIRING AND 

5 RETENTION 

6 SEC. 801. FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

7 STAFFING. 

8 (a) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.—Section 401(k) of 

9 the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 7171(k)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking paragraph (6); and 

12 (2) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para13 graph (6). 

14 (b) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

15 401(k)(2)(A) of the Department of Energy Organization Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 7171(k)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘or 

17 mathematical’’ and inserting ‘‘mathematical, economic, or 

18 legal’’. 

19 SEC. 802. COMPENSATION FLEXIBILITY TO ADDRESS RE20 TENTION AND HIRING ISSUES AT THE BON21 NEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION. 

22 Section 10 of the Act of August 20, 1937 (commonly 

23 known as the ‘‘Bonneville Project Act of 1937’’) (50 Stat. 

24 736, chapter 720; 16 U.S.C. 832i), is amended by striking 


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1 the section designation and subsections (a) and (b) and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 10. EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONNEL. 

4 ‘‘(a) EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION PROGRAM.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

6 law, rule, regulation, or directive relating to the pay7 ment of Federal employees (other than chapter 83 of 

8 title 5, United States Code), the administrator shall 

9 develop, implement, and, as appropriate, update, 

10 based on the results of an annual review under para11 graph (4), a compensation plan that specifies and 

12 fixes the compensation (including salary or any other 

13 pay, bonuses, benefits, incentives, and any other form 

14 of remuneration) for employees of the administrator, 

15 including members of the Senior Executive Service 

16 (as defined in section 2101a of title 5, United States 

17 Code). 

18 ‘‘(2) INITIAL COMPENSATION PLAN.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

20 after the date of enactment of the Energy Per21 mitting Reform Act of 2024, the administrator 

22 shall, in consultation with the Director of the Of23 fice of Personnel Management, and subject to 

24 confirmation and approval by the Secretary of 

25 Energy, which shall not be unreasonably withVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00164 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 held, develop an initial compensation plan under 

2 paragraph (1). 

3 ‘‘(B) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 1 

4 year after the date on which the initial com5 pensation plan is developed under subparagraph 

6 (A), the administrator shall implement the ini7 tial compensation plan. 

8 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—A compensation plan de9 veloped under paragraph (1) shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) be based on an annual survey of the 

11 prevailing compensation for similar positions in 

12 the public sectors of the electric industry; 

13 ‘‘(B) be consistent with the approved an14 nual general and administrative budget of the 

15 administrator and encourage the widest diversi16 fied use of electric power at the lowest possible 

17 rates to consumers consistent with sound busi18 ness principles; 

19 ‘‘(C) provide that education, experience, 

20 level of responsibility, geographic differences, and 

21 retention and recruitment needs are to be taken 

22 into account in determining the compensation of 

23 employees of the administrator; 

24 ‘‘(D) provide that the individual total com25 pensation of the administrator and any emVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00165 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 ployee of the administrator shall be comparable 

2 to and competitive with similar positions among 

3 consumer-owned utilities in the Western Inter4 connection. 

5 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REVIEW.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Annually, the adminis7 trator shall review and update, as appropriate, 

8 the compensation plan developed under para9 graph (1). 

10 ‘‘(B) COMPENSATION OF THE ADMINIS11 TRATOR.—Notwithstanding any other law, rule, 

12 regulation, or directive relating to the payment 

13 of the administrator (other than chapter 83 of 

14 title 5, United States Code), the Secretary shall 

15 periodically review and update, as appropriate, 

16 the compensation of the administrator consistent 

17 with paragraph (3)(D). 

18 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—The 

19 administrator shall include in the quarterly pub20 lic business review of the administrator or any 

21 other appropriate public review of the operations 

22 and finances of the administrator information 

23 on the applicable annual compensation plan re24 view under subparagraph (A), including infor25 mation on the amount of salaries of any employVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00166 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4753.RS S4753

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1 ees whose annual salaries would exceed the an2 nual rate payable for positions at Level IV of the 

3 Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, 

4 United States Code. 

5 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL PUBLICATION.—Annually, the ad6 ministrator shall publish the compensation plan de7 veloped under paragraph (1) or updated under para8 graph (4), as applicable. 

9 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT; EMPLOYMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The administrator may, as 

11 the administrator determines to be necessary to carry 

12 out this Act, subject to applicable civil service laws— 

13 ‘‘(A) appoint any officers and employees; 

14 ‘‘(B) employ laborers, mechanics, and work15 ers for construction work or the operation and 

16 maintenance of electrical facilities; and 

17 ‘‘(C) fix the compensation of individuals 

18 appointed under subparagraph (A) or (B), re19 spectively, consistent with the applicable com20 pensation plan developed under subsection 

21 (a)(1). 

22 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

23 LAWS.—In carrying out the authority provided by 

24 paragraph (1), the administrator shall be exempt 


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1 from chapters 34, 43, 51, 53, 57, and 59 of title 5, 

2 United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION OF MERIT SYSTEM PRIN4 CIPLES.—Employees of the administrator are subject 

5 to the application of the merit system principles set 

6 forth in section 2301 of title 5, United States Code, 

7 to the extent that the principles apply to a wholly 

8 owned Government corporation. 

9 ‘‘(4) EMPLOYMENT OF PHYSICIANS.—The admin10 istrator may employ physicians, without regard to 

11 the civil service laws (including regulations), to per12 form physical examinations of employees of the ad13 ministrator or prospective employees of the adminis14 trator who are or may become laborers, mechanics, 

15 and workers described in paragraph (1)(B). 

16 ‘‘(5) EMPLOYMENT OF EXPERTS.—The adminis17 trator may appoint, without regard to the civil serv18 ice laws (including regulations), any experts that the 

19 administrator determines to be necessary to carry out 

20 the functions of the administrator under this Act.’’. 

21 SEC. 803. NORTHWEST POWER AND CONSERVATION COUN22 CIL. 

23 Section 4(c)(10)(B) of the Pacific Northwest Electric 

24 Power Planning and Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

25 839b(c)(10)(B)) is amended by striking the period at the 


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1 end and inserting ‘‘, adjusted for inflation since the date 

2 of enactment of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 

3 2024.’’. 

4 SEC. 804. FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

5 PERSONNEL SAFETY. 

6 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may au7 thorize employees of the Federal Energy Regulatory Com8 mission to perform law enforcement duties as needed to en9 sure the safety of the Chairman and Commissioners of the 

10 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the performance 

11 of the official duties of the Chairman and Commissioners, 

12 respectively. 


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Calendar No. 756 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4753 

[Report No. 118–336] 

A BILL 

To reform leasing, permitting, and judicial review 

D

other purposes. for certain energy and minerals projects, and for 

ECEMBER 19 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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