I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9012 

To promote the development of renewable energy on public land, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2024 

Mr. LEVIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To promote the development of renewable energy on public 

land, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Land Renew5 able Energy Development Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 

9 means land that is— 


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1 (A) Federal land; 

2 (B) not excluded from the development of 

3 geothermal, solar, or wind energy under— 

4 (i) a land use plan; or 

5 (ii) other Federal law; and 

6 (C) not included in an area— 

7 (i) that is subject to the Desert Re8 newable Energy Conservation Plan devel9 oped by the California Energy Commis10 sion, the California Department of Fish 

11 and Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Manage12 ment, and the United States Fish and 

13 Wildlife Service; or 

14 (ii) for which the Secretary deter15 mines existing wind and solar energy land 

16 use planning meets or exceeds the stand17 ards established under section 4. 

18 (2) ENERGY STORAGE PROJECT.—The term 

19 ‘‘energy storage project’’ means equipment that— 

20 (A) receives, stores, and delivers energy 

21 using batteries, compressed air, pumped hydro22 power, hydrogen storage (including hydrolysis), 

23 thermal energy storage, regenerative fuel cells, 

24 flywheels, capacitors, superconducting magnets, 


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1 or other technologies identified by the Secretary 

2 of Energy; and 

3 (B) has a storage capacity of not less than 

4 5 kilowatt hours. 

5 (3) EXCLUSION AREA.—The term ‘‘exclusion 

6 area’’ means covered land that is identified by the 

7 Bureau of Land Management as not suitable for de8 velopment of renewable energy projects. 

9 (4) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

10 means— 

11 (A) public land; and 

12 (B) National Forest System lands adminis13 tered by the Department of Agriculture through 

14 the Forest Service where the Secretary has au15 thority to issue leases for the development and 

16 utilization of geothermal resources under sec17 tion 3 and section 15 of the Geothermal Steam 

18 Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1002, 1014). 

19 (5) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Re20 newable Energy Resource Conservation Fund estab21 lished by section 7(c)(1). 

22 (6) LAND USE PLAN.—The term ‘‘land use 

23 plan’’ means— 

24 (A) with respect to public land, a land use 

25 plan established under the Federal Land Policy 


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1 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 

2 et seq.); and 

3 (B) with respect to National Forest Sys4 tem land, a land management plan approved, 

5 amended, or revised under section 6 of the For6 est and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan7 ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 

8 (7) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

9 ‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 

10 the term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range11 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

12 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 

13 (8) PRIORITY AREA.—The term ‘‘priority area’’ 

14 means covered land identified by the land use plan15 ning process of the Bureau of Land Management as 

16 being a preferred location for a renewable energy 

17 project, including an area that is identified as a des18 ignated leasing area under the rule of the Bureau of 

19 Land Management entitled ‘‘Competitive Processes, 

20 Terms, and Conditions for Leasing Public Lands for 

21 Solar and Wind Energy Development and Technical 

22 Changes and Corrections’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 92122 

23 (December 19, 2016)) (or a successor regulation). 

24 (9) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 

25 has the meaning given the term ‘‘public lands’’ in 


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1 section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage2 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 

3 (10) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT.—The 

4 term ‘‘renewable energy project’’— 

5 (A) means a project carried out on covered 

6 land that— 

7 (i) uses wind, solar, or geothermal en8 ergy to generate energy; or 

9 (ii) transmits electricity to support 

10 wind, solar, or geothermal energy genera11 tion; and 

12 (B) may include an associated energy stor13 age project. 

14 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

15 means the Secretary of the Interior. 

16 SEC. 3. UPDATING NATIONAL GOALS FOR RENEWABLE EN17 ERGY PRODUCTION ON FEDERAL LAND. 

18 Section 3104 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 

19 3004) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘60’’; 

22 and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘2025’’ and inserting ‘‘De24 cember 31, 2030’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(c) UPDATE.—Not later than 18 months after the 

2 date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary, in con3 sultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the heads 

4 of other relevant Federal agencies, shall update the na5 tional goals for renewable energy production on Federal 

6 land established under subsection (a).’’. 

7 SEC. 4. LAND USE PLANNING AND UPDATES TO PRO8 GRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 

9 STATEMENTS. 

10 (a) PRIORITY AREAS.— 

11 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIORITY AREAS; DES12 IGNATION OF AREAS ELIGIBLE FOR THE SUBMISSION

13 OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT APPLICATIONS.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of renew15 able energy planning, the Secretary, consistent 

16 with the requirements described in subpara17 graph (B), shall— 

18 (i) designate areas on covered land eli19 gible for the submission of renewable en20 ergy project applications; and 

21 (ii) consider establishing priority 

22 areas on covered land for renewable energy 

23 projects. 


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1 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out ac2 tivities under clauses (i) and (ii) of subpara3 graph (A), the Secretary shall comply with— 

4 (i) the principles of multiple use (as 

5 defined in section 103 of the Federal Land 

6 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

7 U.S.C. 1702)); and 

8 (ii) the national goals for renewable 

9 energy production established under sec10 tion 3104 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 

11 U.S.C. 3004), including the minimum pro12 duction goal described in subsection (b) of 

13 that section. 

14 (2) PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN APPLICATIONS.—In 

15 considering applications for renewable energy 

16 projects on covered land, with respect to an applica17 tion for a proposed renewable energy projects on 

18 covered land that is to be carried out in a priority 

19 area, the Secretary shall— 

20 (A) prioritize the application to be carried 

21 out in any identified priority area; and 

22 (B) on approval of the application, provide 

23 to the applicant who submitted the application 

24 the opportunity to participate in any regional 


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1 mitigation plan developed for the applicable pri2 ority area. 

3 (3) PROGRAMMATIC PLANNING.— 

4 (A) SOLAR ENERGY.—The Secretary 

5 shall— 

6 (i) as soon as practicable, but not 

7 later than 18 months after the date of en8 actment of this Act, finalize the draft of 

9 the programmatic Environmental Impact 

10 Statement referenced in the notice of avail11 ability entitled ‘‘Notice of Availability of 

12 the Draft Programmatic Environmental 

13 Impact Statement for Utility-Scale Solar 

14 Energy Development and Notice of Public 

15 Meetings’’ (89 Fed. Reg. 3687 (January 

16 19, 2024)); and 

17 (ii) as soon as practicable, but not 

18 later than 18 months after a Record of 

19 Decision is issued on the draft of the pro20 grammatic Environmental Impact State21 ment referenced in the notice of availability 

22 entitled ‘‘Notice of Availability of the Draft 

23 Programmatic Environmental Impact 

24 Statement for Utility-Scale Solar Energy 

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1 ings’’ (89 Fed. Reg. 3687 (January 19, 

2 2024)), consider establishing priority areas 

3 on covered land for Solar energy projects 

4 in the planning area. 

5 (B) WIND ENERGY.—As soon as prac6 ticable, but not later than 1 year after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

8 initiate a review of the final programmatic En9 vironment Impact Statement referenced in the 

10 notice of availability entitled ‘‘Notice of Avail11 ability of the Final Programmatic Environ12 mental Impact Statement on Wind Energy De13 velopment on BLM–Administered Lands in the 

14 Western United States, Including Proposed 

15 Amendments to Selected Land Use Plans’’ (70 

16 Fed. Reg. 36651 (June 24, 2005)), that con17 siders establishment of wind application and 

18 priority areas on covered lands, and complete 

19 that review within 3 years of issuing a notice of 

20 intent. 

21 (b) REVIEW AND MODIFICATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

23 not less frequently than once every 10 years, the 

24 Secretary shall— 


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1 (A) after an opportunity for public com2 ment, review the adequacy of all land alloca3 tions for renewable energy projects for the pur4 poses of— 

5 (i) encouraging and facilitating new 

6 renewable energy projects; and 

7 (ii) consistent with a mitigation se8 quence of avoiding, minimizing, and com9 pensating for adverse impacts to other 

10 public uses and values of covered land, in11 cluding— 

12 (I) wildlife habitat; 

13 (II) species listed as threatened 

14 or endangered under the Endangered 

15 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 

16 et seq.); 

17 (III) water resources; 

18 (IV) cultural resources; 

19 (V) recreational uses; 

20 (VI) land with wilderness charac21 teristics; 

22 (VII) land with special manage23 ment designations; 

24 (VIII) cultural resources; and 


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1 (IX) areas of Tribal importance; 

2 and 

3 (B) based on the review carried out under 

4 subparagraph (A), add, modify, or eliminate 

5 priority areas, exclusion areas, and areas on 

6 covered land open or closed to solar or wind en7 ergy right-of-way applications or to geothermal 

8 leasing. 

9 (2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

10 apply to any covered land that the Secretary deter11 mines, after seeking public input, is subject to an ex12 isting land use plan that meets the purposes de13 scribed in paragraph (1)(A). 

14 (3) REPORT.—If the Secretary determines, in 

15 an annual report required under subsection (g) of 

16 section 3102 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 

17 3002) (as redesignated by section 5(a)(1)), that the 

18 national goal for renewable energy production estab19 lished under subsection (a) of section 3104 of that 

20 Act (43 U.S.C. 3004), including the minimum pro21 duction goal established under subsection (b) of that 

22 section, may not be met, the Secretary shall act 

23 more frequently than otherwise required by this sec24 tion to designate areas eligible for the submission of 

25 renewable energy project applications and establish 


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1 additional priority areas for renewable energy 

2 projects. 

3 (c) COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRON4 MENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969.—For purposes of this sec5 tion, compliance with the National Environmental Policy 

6 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be accom7 plished— 

8 (1) for geothermal energy— 

9 (A) by updating the document entitled 

10 ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 

11 Statement for Geothermal Leasing in the West12 ern United States’’ and dated October 2008; 

13 and 

14 (B) by incorporating into the updated doc15 ument under subparagraph (A) any additional 

16 regional analyses completed by Federal agencies 

17 after the date on which the document described 

18 in that subparagraph was finalized; 

19 (2) for solar energy— 

20 (A) by updating the document entitled 

21 ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 

22 Statement (PEIS) for Solar Energy Develop23 ment in Six Southwestern States’’ and dated 

24 July 2012; and 


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1 (B) by incorporating into the updated doc2 ument under subparagraph (A) any additional 

3 regional analyses completed by Federal agencies 

4 after the date on which the document described 

5 in that subparagraph was finalized; and 

6 (3) for wind energy— 

7 (A) by updating the document entitled 

8 ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 

9 Statement on Wind Energy Development on 

10 BLM–Administered Lands in the Western 

11 United States’’ and dated June 2005; and 

12 (B) by incorporating into the updated doc13 ument under subparagraph (A) any additional 

14 regional analyses completed by Federal agencies 

15 after the date on which the document described 

16 in that subparagraph was finalized. 

17 (d) NO EFFECT ON PROCESSING SITE-SPECIFIC AP18 PLICATIONS.—Nothing in this section modifies any re19 quirement to conduct site-specific environmental reviews 

20 or process permits for proposed renewable energy projects 

21 during preparation of an updated programmatic environ22 mental impact statement, land use plan, or amendment 

23 to a land use plan. 

24 (e) COORDINATION.—In developing any update re25 quired under this section, the Secretary shall coordinate, 


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1 on an ongoing basis, with appropriate State, Tribal, and 

2 local governments, transmission infrastructure owners, op3 erators, and developers, renewable energy developers, and 

4 other appropriate entities to ensure that priority areas es5 tablished by the Secretary under this section take into ac6 count— 

7 (1) economic viability (including having access 

8 to existing or planned transmission lines); 

9 (2) consistency with a mitigation sequence to 

10 avoid, minimize, and compensate for impacts to— 

11 (A) fish, wildlife, or plants; 

12 (B) fish, wildlife, or plant habitat; 

13 (C) recreational uses; 

14 (D) land with wilderness characteristics; 

15 (E) land with special management designa16 tions; 

17 (F) cultural resources; 

18 (G) areas of Tribal importance; and 

19 (H) other uses of covered land; 

20 (3) feasibility of siting on previously disturbed 

21 land, including commercial and industrial land, mine 

22 land, and previously contaminated sites; and 

23 (4) consistency with section 202 of the Federal 

24 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 


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1 U.S.C. 1712), including subsection (c)(9) of that 

2 section (43 U.S.C. 1712(c)(9)). 

3 (f) TRANSMISSION.—In carrying out this section, the 

4 Secretary shall— 

5 (1) determine whether adequate transmission 

6 exists for renewable energy projects on covered land; 

7 and 

8 (2) if a determination is made in the negative 

9 under paragraph (1), in coordination with the heads 

10 of other relevant Federal agencies, review existing 

11 land use plans to determine if amendments to those 

12 land use plans would be appropriate to support ade13 quate transmission capability. 

14 (g) INCENTIVES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVEL15 OPMENT IN PRIORITY AREAS.—The Secretary may estab16 lish, by regulation, incentives to be provided to individuals 

17 carrying out renewable energy projects in priority areas 

18 established under this section. 

19 SEC. 5. IMPROVING WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY PROJECT 

20 PERMITTING. 

21 (a) ROLE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY COORDINATION

22 OFFICES.—Section 3102 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 

23 U.S.C. 3002) is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

25 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(e) PROCESSING OF WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY AP4 PLICATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DELEGATION TO STATE RENEWABLE EN6 ERGY COORDINATION OFFICES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

8 other provision of law, the Secretary may dele9 gate to a State Renewable Energy Coordination 

10 Office the authority to process applications for 

11 eligible projects proposed to be carried out on 

12 land managed by the Bureau of Land Manage13 ment in the applicable State. 

14 ‘‘(B) ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF

15 MANAGERS.—For purposes of processing appli16 cations described in subparagraph (A), the 

17 manager of the applicable State Renewable En18 ergy Coordination Office— 

19 ‘‘(i) shall have the authority to issue 

20 grants or leases for eligible projects; 

21 ‘‘(ii) with the approval of the State 

22 Director of the applicable Bureau of Land 

23 Management State Office, may use other 

24 employees in field and district offices of 

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1 ment State Office, or hire additional ex2 perts, to assist with timely processing of 

3 applications, with the costs of hiring addi4 tional experts to be charged to applicants; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(iii) shall report to the State Direc7 tor of the applicable Bureau of Land Man8 agement State Office. 

9 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION OF DELEGATION TO EM10 PLOYEES OF FIELD OR DISTRICT OFFICES.—Except 

11 as provided in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), the Secretary 

12 may not delegate to employees of field or district of13 fices of the Bureau of Land Management the au14 thority to process applications for eligible projects 

15 proposed to be carried out on land managed by the 

16 Bureau of Land Management.’’. 

17 (b) COST RECOVERY AGREEMENTS.— 

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

19 the date on which an applicant submits a complete 

20 application for a right-of-way for a wind or solar en21 ergy project, including submission of the filing fee 

22 required under section 2804.12 of title 43, Code of 

23 Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), the 

24 Secretary shall provide a cost recovery agreement 

25 with respect to the application. 


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1 (2) EFFECT.—Issuance of a cost recovery 

2 agreement under paragraph (1) and payment of cost 

3 recovery fees shall preclude any new claims to the 

4 use of the applicable covered land during any period 

5 in which the application is active. 

6 (3) CONFLICTS; STUDIES.— 

7 (A) CONFLICTS.—To be considered com8 plete under paragraph (1), an application de9 scribed in that paragraph shall address any 

10 known conflicts with respect to the use of the 

11 applicable covered land, as identified in sci12 entific literature or other studies. 

13 (B) ADDITIONAL STUDIES.—Additional 

14 studies shall not be required for purposes of 

15 considering an application to be complete under 

16 paragraph (1). 

17 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 (1) NOTICE OF INTENT.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

20 days after the date on which the agency notifies 

21 the applicant that the application to establish a 

22 right-of-way is complete, or a later date to be 

23 established by the Secretary under subpara24 graph (B), if an environmental impact state25 ment is determined to be necessary, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Aug 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9012.IH H9012

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1 retary shall issue a notice of intent to prepare 

2 an environmental impact statement with respect 

3 to the application. 

4 (B) EXTENSION.—The Secretary shall es5 tablish a later date by which the notice under 

6 subparagraph (A) shall be issued, if the Sec7 retary determines that the 180-day period 

8 under that paragraph should be extended due 

9 to— 

10 (i) the application being considered a 

11 low priority under section 2804.35 of title 

12 43, Code of Federal Regulations (or a suc13 cessor regulation); 

14 (ii) project-specific circumstances, in15 cluding the need for further studies, mak16 ing the 180-day deadline insufficient; or 

17 (iii) the application not meeting the 

18 requirements for approval. 

19 (2) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—As the Sec20 retary determines to be appropriate, the Secretary 

21 may promulgate regulations providing that prelimi22 nary geotechnical work and meteorological moni23 toring relating to renewable energy projects shall be 

24 categorically excluded from the requirements for an 

25 environmental assessment or environmental impact 


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1 statement under section 1501.4 of title 40, Code of 

2 Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation). 

3 (d) PROCESSING PRIORITY.—In processing applica4 tions described in subsection (b)(1), the Secretary shall— 

5 (1) give priority to applications for renewable 

6 energy projects in priority areas; and 

7 (2) process applications for renewable energy 

8 projects in areas that are not priority areas in the 

9 order in which the applications are received. 

10 (e) USE OF COMPETITIVE PROCESS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

12 the Secretary shall not use a competitive process for 

13 the review of an application described in subsection 

14 (b)(1), except— 

15 (A) in a case in which 2 or more appli16 cants file an application for the same site (or 

17 portions of the same site) not more than 15 

18 days apart; or 

19 (B) as otherwise established by the Sec20 retary through a subsequent rulemaking process 

21 delineating the instances in which the Secretary 

22 will use the competitive process. 

23 (2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

24 apply to applications for competitive right-of-way 

25 leases in priority areas. 


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1 SEC. 6. INCREASING ECONOMIC CERTAINTY. 

2 (a) RENTS AND FEES.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—In determining rental rates 

4 and other fees for renewable energy project leases or 

5 right-of-way grants, the Secretary shall ensure that 

6 the total rental rates and other fees charged do not 

7 exceed the average amount charged for similar ac8 tivities on private land in the State or county in 

9 which the rental rates and other fees are charged. 

10 (2) INDIVIDUAL APPRAISALS NOT REQUIRED.— 

11 For purposes of determining rental rates for renew12 able energy projects, the Secretary— 

13 (A) shall not be required to conduct indi14 vidual appraisals; and 

15 (B) may use average cash rents included in 

16 the Pastureland Rents Survey prepared by the 

17 National Agricultural Statistics Service, as de18 termined for the 5-year period ending on the 

19 date on which the rental rate is determined. 

20 (3) INCREASES IN BASE RENTAL RATES.—After 

21 a base rental rate is established for a lease or right22 of-way grant authorization for a renewable energy 

23 project, any increase in the base rental rate shall be 

24 limited to the Implicit Price Deflator-Gross Product 

25 Index published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis 

26 of the Department of Commerce on the date of 


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1 issuance of the lease or right-of way grant author2 ization. 

3 (4) CAPACITY FEES.—The Secretary may con4 sider charging a capacity fee for a renewable energy 

5 project only if the Secretary determines that capac6 ity fees are charged within the region or State in 

7 which the renewable energy project is carried out, as 

8 part of leaseholds on State or private land. 

9 (b) BONDS.—The Secretary shall adopt a process for 

10 establishing bond requirements for decommissioning re11 newable energy projects that— 

12 (1) do not establish a minimum per acre 

13 amount; and 

14 (2) are based on the difference between— 

15 (A) the estimated, site-specific net costs of 

16 reclamation of the covered land; and 

17 (B) the salvage value of materials available 

18 after decommissioning the renewable energy 

19 project. 

20 SEC. 7. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES; RENEWABLE ENERGY 

21 RESOURCE CONSERVATION FUND. 

22 (a) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.— 

23 (1) AVAILABILITY.—Except as provided in 

24 paragraph (3), without further appropriation or fis25 cal year limitation, of amounts collected from wind 


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1 and solar energy projects as bonus bids, rentals, 

2 fees, or other payments under a right-of-way, per3 mit, lease, or other authorization— 

4 (A) for the period beginning on January 1, 

5 2025, and ending on December 31, 2044— 

6 (i) 25 percent shall be paid by the 

7 Secretary of the Treasury to the State 

8 within the boundaries of which the revenue 

9 is derived; 

10 (ii) 25 percent shall be paid by the 

11 Secretary of the Treasury to the 1 or more 

12 counties within the boundaries of which 

13 the revenue is derived, to be allocated 

14 among the counties based on the percent15 age of land from which the revenue is de16 rived; 

17 (iii) 15 percent shall be deposited in 

18 the Treasury and credited to the Bureau of 

19 Land Management’s Renewable Energy 

20 Management account to be made available 

21 to the Secretary to carry out sections 4 

22 and 5 (including amendments made by 

23 those sections), including the transfer of 

24 the funds by the Bureau of Land Manage25 ment to other Federal agencies and State 


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1 agencies to facilitate the processing of per2 mits for renewable energy projects, with 

3 priority given to using the amounts, to the 

4 maximum extent practicable, without detri5 mental impacts to emerging markets, expe6 diting the issuance of permits required for 

7 the development of wind and solar energy 

8 projects in the States from which the reve9 nues are derived; and 

10 (iv) 35 percent shall be deposited in 

11 the Fund; and 

12 (B) beginning on January 1, 2045— 

13 (i) 25 percent shall be paid by the 

14 Secretary of the Treasury to the State 

15 within the boundaries of which the revenue 

16 is derived; 

17 (ii) 25 percent shall be paid by the 

18 Secretary of the Treasury to the 1 or more 

19 counties within the boundaries of which 

20 the revenue is derived, to be allocated 

21 among the counties based on the percent22 age of land from which the revenue is de23 rived; 

24 (iii) 10 percent shall be deposited in 

25 the Treasury and be made available to the 


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1 Secretary to carry out sections 4 and 5 

2 (including amendments made by those sec3 tions), including the transfer of the funds 

4 by the Bureau of Land Management to 

5 other Federal agencies and State agencies 

6 to facilitate the processing of permits for 

7 wind and solar energy projects, with pri8 ority given to using the amounts, to the 

9 maximum extent practicable, without detri10 mental impacts to emerging markets, expe11 diting the issuance of permits required for 

12 the development of renewable energy 

13 projects in the States from which the reve14 nues are derived; and 

15 (iv) 40 percent shall be deposited in 

16 the Fund. 

17 (2) RULE FOR PROJECTS LOCATED IN MUL18 TIPLE STATES.—Not later than 180 days after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

20 issue a proposed rule establishing a formula for the 

21 disposition of revenues under subparagraphs (A)(i) 

22 and (B)(i) of paragraph (1) in a case in which a 

23 wind and solar energy project is located in more 

24 than 1 State. 


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1 (3) FILING FEES.—With respect to wind and 

2 solar energy projects— 

3 (A) paragraph (1) does not apply to 

4 amounts collected from application filing fees 

5 authorized under section 304 of the Federal 

6 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

7 U.S.C. 1734); and 

8 (B) such application filing fees may be re9 tained by the applicable agency to recover costs 

10 associated with issuing the right-of-way, permit, 

11 or other authorization associated with the appli12 cation. 

13 (b) PAYMENTS TO STATES AND COUNTIES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts paid to States and 

15 counties under subsection (a)(1) shall be used con16 sistent with section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act 

17 (30 U.S.C. 191). 

18 (2) PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF TAXES.—A payment 

19 to a county under subparagraph (A)(ii) or (B)(ii) of 

20 subsection (a)(1) shall be in addition to a payment 

21 in lieu of taxes received by the county under chapter 

22 69 of title 31, United States Code. 

23 (c) RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE CONSERVATION

24 FUND.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

2 Treasury a fund, to be known as the ‘‘Renewable 

3 Energy Resource Conservation Fund’’, which shall 

4 be administered by the Secretary. 

5 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

7 make amounts in the Fund available to Fed8 eral, State, local, and Tribal agencies for dis9 tribution in regions in which renewable energy 

10 projects are located on Federal land, for the 

11 purposes described in subparagraph (B). 

12 (B) PURPOSES.—The purposes referred to 

13 in subparagraph (A) are— 

14 (i) restoring and protecting— 

15 (I) fish and wildlife habitat for 

16 species affected by renewable energy 

17 projects; 

18 (II) fish and wildlife corridors for 

19 species affected by renewable energy 

20 projects; and 

21 (III) wetlands, streams, rivers, 

22 and other natural water bodies in 

23 areas affected by renewable energy 

24 projects; and 


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1 (ii) preserving and improving rec2 reational access to Federal land and water 

3 in the applicable region through an ease4 ment, right-of-way, or other instrument 

5 from willing landowners for the purpose of 

6 enhancing public access to existing Federal 

7 land and water that is inaccessible or re8 stricted due to renewable energy projects. 

9 (3) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Sec10 retary may enter into cooperative agreements with 

11 State and Tribal agencies, nonprofit organizations, 

12 and other appropriate entities to carry out the ac13 tivities described in paragraph (2). 

14 (4) INVESTMENT OF FUND.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any amounts deposited 

16 in the Fund shall earn interest in an amount 

17 determined by the Secretary of the Treasury on 

18 the basis of the current average market yield on 

19 outstanding marketable obligations of the 

20 United States of comparable maturities. 

21 (B) USE.—Any interest earned under sub22 paragraph (A) may be deposited into the Fund 

23 and used without further appropriation. 

24 (5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—At the end of each 

25 fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Aug 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9012.IH H9012

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1 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Sen2 ate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

3 House of Representatives a report identifying— 

4 (A) the amounts described in subsection 

5 (a) that were collected during that fiscal year, 

6 organized by source; 

7 (B) the amount and purpose of payments 

8 made to each Federal, State, local, and Tribal 

9 agency under paragraph (2) during that fiscal 

10 year; and 

11 (C) the amount remaining in the Fund at 

12 the end of the fiscal year. 

13 (6) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—It is the intent of 

14 Congress that the revenues deposited and expended 

15 from the Fund shall supplement (and not supplant) 

16 annual appropriations for activities described in 

17 paragraph (2). 

18 SEC. 8. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

19 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the 

20 Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall continue 

21 to manage public land under the principles of multiple use 

22 and sustained yield in accordance with title I of the Fed23 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

24 1701 et seq.) or the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re25 sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.), 


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1 as applicable, for the purposes of land use planning, per2 mit processing, and conducting environmental reviews. 

Æ 


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