I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 308

To create a commission to grant exclusive franchises for the exploration

for and the commercial development of geothermal energy and for the

right to market any such energy in its natural state, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. QUILLEN introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Energy and Conservation and Natural Resources

A BILL

To create a commission to grant exclusive franchises for

the exploration for and the commercial development of

geothermal energy and for the right to market any such

energy in its natural state, 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 ‘‘Geothermal Energy

5 Control Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that the exploration for and the

8 commercial development of geothermal energy in the Unit-
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1 ed States, and the marketing of any energy developed

2 from such geothermal energy, is a part of the interstate

3 commerce of the United States. The Congress further

4 finds that geothermal energy is a national resource of the

5 United States and that it is in the national interest for

6 the Congress to control and conserve the development of

7 this national resource.

8 SEC. 3. NATIONAL GEOTHERMAL ENERGY COMMISSION.

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com10 mission to be known as the National Geothermal Energy

11 Commission (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the

12 ‘‘Commission’’) which shall be composed of 9 Commis13 sioners who shall be appointed by the President, by and

14 with the advice and consent of the Senate, one of whom

15 shall be designated by the President as Chairman and

16 shall be the principal executive officer of the Commission.

17 Each Chairman, when so designated, shall act as such

18 until the expiration of his term of office.

19 (b) TERMS.—The Commissioners first appointed

20 under this section shall continue in office for terms of 1,

21 2, 3, 4, and 5 years, respectively, from the date of their

22 appointment by the President. The term of each such

23 Commissioner first appointed shall be designated by the

24 President at the time of his appointment. The successor

25 of each such Commissioner first appointed and of each
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1 such Commissioner appointed thereafter shall be ap2 pointed for a term of 5 years from the date of the expira3 tion of the term for which his predecessor was appointed,

4 except that any person appointed to fill a vacancy occur5 ring prior to the expiration of the term for which his pred6 ecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the expi7 ration of such term. Not more than 5 of the Commis8 sioners serving at any one time shall have been appointed

9 from the same political party. No individual in the employ

10 of or holding any official relation to any person licensed

11 under this Act, or owning stocks or bonds of such person,

12 or in any manner pecuniarily interested in such persons,

13 shall hold the office of Commissioner. No Commissioner

14 shall engage in any other business, vocation, or employ15 ment, except for his duties under this Act. No vacancy

16 in the Commission shall impair the right of the remaining

17 Commissioners to exercise all the powers of the Commis18 sion. Five members of the Commission shall constitute a

19 quorum for the transaction of business, and the Commis20 sion shall have an official seal of which judicial notice shall

21 be taken. The Commission shall annually elect a Vice

22 Chairman to act in case of the absence or disability of

23 the Chairman or in case of a vacancy in the office

24 of Chairman.
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1 (c) EXPENSES.—Each Commissioner shall receive

2 necessary traveling and subsistence expenses, or per diem

3 allowance in lieu thereof, within the limitation prescribed

4 by law, while away from the principal office of the Com5 mission upon official business.

6 (d) MEETINGS.—The principal office of the Commis7 sion shall be in the District of Columbia, where its general

8 sessions shall be held; but whenever the convenience of the

9 public or of the parties may be promoted or delay or ex10 pense prevented thereby, the Commission may hold special

11 session in any part of the United States.

12 SEC. 4. DIRECTOR AND STAFF.

13 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall have a Direc14 tor who shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Com15 mission, and who shall be paid at the rate of basic pay

16 in effect for grade GS–18 of the General Schedule.

17 (b) PERSONNEL.—Subject to such rules as may be

18 adopted by the Commission, the Director may appoint and

19 fix the pay of such personnel as he deems desirable.

20 (c) PAY.—The Director and staff of the Commission

21 may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title

22 5 of the United States Code, governing appointments in

23 the competitive service, and such staff may be paid with24 out regard to the provisions of chapter 51, subchapter III
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1 of chapter 53 and chapter 54 of such title relating to clas2 sification and pay rates.

3 (d) CONSULTANTS.—Subject to such rules as may be

4 adopted by the Commission, the Director may procure

5 temporary and intermittent services to the same extent as

6 is authorized by section 3109(b) of title 5 of the United

7 States Code.

8 (e) DETAIL OF PERSONNEL.—Upon request of the

9 Commission, the head of any Federal agency is authorized

10 to detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the personnel

11 of such agency to the Commission to assist it in carrying

12 out its duties under this Act.

13 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

14 (a) HEARING AND TESTIMONY.—The Commission

15 may for the purpose of carrying out this Act hold such

16 hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such

17 testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission

18 may deem advisable. The Commission may administer

19 oaths or affirmations to witnesses appearing before it.

20 (b) AGENTS.—When so authorized by the Commis21 sion, any member or agent of the Commission may take

22 any action which the Commission is authorized to take by

23 this section.

24 (c) INFORMATION.—The Commission may secure di25 rectly from any department or agency of the United States
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1 information necessary to enable it to carry out this Act.

2 Upon request of the Chairman of the Commission, the

3 head of such department or agency shall furnish such in4 formation to the Commission.

5 (d) MAIL.—The Commission may use the United

6 States mails in the same manner and upon the same con7 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United

8 States.

9 SEC. 6. PROSPECTS FOR GEOTHERMAL STEAM.

10 (a) DETERMINATION.—Within a year after the date

11 of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall determine

12 (for all lands in the United States which are not included

13 in the geothermal leasing authority of section 3 of the

14 Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1002) or any

15 geothermal development program conducted under any au16 thority granted to any Secretary of a military department)

17 all areas in which the geology, nearby discoveries, competi18 tive interests, or other indicia would, in the opinion of the

19 Commission, engender a belief in people who are experi20 enced in the subject matter that the prospects for the ex21 traction of geothermal steam and associated geothermal

22 resources are good enough to warrant expenditures of

23 money for that purpose. The Commission shall divide all

24 such areas into parcels of satisfactory size for the pur-
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1 poses of licensing for exploration and development under

2 subsection (b).

3 (b) LIST OF PARCELS.—Immediately after the Com4 mission divides areas into parcels under subsection (a), it

5 shall publish the list of such parcels in the Federal Reg6 ister. At any time after such publication, any person who

7 wants to explore for geothermal steam and associated geo8 thermal resources in any such parcel shall apply to the

9 Commission for a license for such exploration. The Com10 mission shall grant a license for any such parcel to the

11 first person who applies for a license for such parcel who

12 the Commission determines is capable of carrying out a

13 complete exploration in such parcel for geothermal steam

14 and associated geothermal resources. The Commission

15 may refuse to grant a license to such person if—

16 (1) such person has already been granted what

17 the Commission determines to be an excessive num18 ber of licenses under this subsection in the same

19 State as his present license application, and

20 (2) there is another eligible applicant for such

21 license who has not been granted such an excessive

22 number of licenses in such State. A person may only

23 commercially develop geothermal steam and associ24 ated geothermal resources on any such parcel if he

25 has been granted a license for such parcel under this
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1 subsection, and then only during the period of the

2 license’s validity as determined under subsection (c).

3 (c) TERM OF LICENSE.—Any license granted under

4 subsection (b) shall be valid for a period of 99 years. If

5 geothermal steam and associated geothermal resources are

6 found on the parcel for which such license is granted, and

7 if such steam and resources are developed in commercial

8 quantities within such 99-year period, such license may

9 be extended at the option of the licensee for as long as

10 such steam and resources are so developed. However, all

11 extensions under the preceding sentence shall not exceed

12 ninety-nine years. If such steam and resources are being

13 commercially developed at the end of such ninety-nine-year

14 extension, the licensee shall have a preferential right to

15 renew the lease for another ninety-nine-year period under

16 such terms and conditions as the Commission may pre17 scribe.

18 (d) EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS.—Any license granted for a

19 parcel under subsection (b) or extended or renewed under

20 subsection (c) shall be the exclusive license for such parcel

21 as long as such license is valid.

22 (e) TERMINATION.—Any license granted under sub23 section (b), extended or renewed under subsection (c), or

24 transferred under section 8 may, after a hearing on the

25 record, be terminated by the Commission for a violation
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1 of the terms of the license which the Commission may pre2 scribe. However, such terms may not be inconsistent with

3 any of the provisions of this Act. Before the termination

4 of a license under this subsection, the Commission shall

5 give the licensee an opportunity to correct such violation

6 within a reasonable period of time. The Commission shall

7 establish regulations for regranting licenses terminated

8 under this subsection.

9 SEC. 7. MARKETING.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who holds a license

11 granted under section 6(b) for a parcel may apply to the

12 Commission for a license to market the geothermal steam

13 and associated geothermal resource found in such parcel,

14 but such steam and resource must be marketed in the

15 same energy form as such steam and resource was ex16 tracted from such parcel, or be marketed as water. The

17 Commission shall grant such a license for marketing for

18 a geographic area which the Commission determines is the

19 most reasonable area to market successfully such steam

20 and resource. There shall only be one license for market21 ing granted under this section for any geographic area.

22 (b) VALIDITY.—Any license for marketing granted

23 under subsection (a) shall be valid for as long as the per24 son holding such license also holds his license for the same

25 parcel granted under section 6(b).
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1 SEC. 8. TRANSFER OF LICENSE.

2 Any person granted a license under section 6 may

3 transfer such license to another person for the commercial

4 development of the geothermal steam and associated geo5 thermal resource which the person granted such license

6 discovered under such license. Any person granted a li7 cense for the marketing of such steam and resource may

8 transfer such license to another person for such market9 ing. However, the person proposing a transfer of a license

10 under this section shall inform the Commission concerning

11 the transfer within seven working days before the transfer.

12 The Commission shall approve the transfer if the trans13 feree is eligible under section 9(a).

14 SEC. 9. CITIZENSHIP; SALE OF ENERGY.

15 (a) CITIZENSHIP.—Any person granted a license by

16 the Commission under section 6, and any other person to

17 whom such a license is transferred under section 8, shall

18 be a United States citizen or shall be a person owned or

19 controlled by a United States citizen.

20 (b) SALE OF ENERGY.—If any holder of a license

21 under this Act converts any geothermal steam and associ22 ated geothermal resource covered by such license to elec23 trical or any other form of energy, he may only sell such

24 electrical or other form of energy (for transmission to con25 sumers) to an existing utility company or other person

26 which is licensed, or in any other way has the authority,
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1 to transmit the electricity or any other form of energy.

2 Also, such licenseholder may sell such steam and resource

3 to such an existing utility company or other person for

4 conversion into electricity or any other form of energy.

5 SEC. 10. OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW.

6 Nothing contained in this Act shall relieve any person

7 from the operation of sections 1 to 13, 14 to 19, 20, 21,

8 22 to 27, 41 to 46, and 47 to 58 of title 15 of the United

9 States Code and sections 52 and 53 of title 29. In the

10 event a licensee is found by a court of competent jurisdic11 tion, either in an original action in that court or in a pro12 ceeding to enforce or review the findings or orders of any

13 Government agency having jurisdiction under the sections

14 cited above, to have violated any of the provisions of such

15 sections in the conduct of the licensed activity, the Com16 mission may suspend, revoke, or take such other action

17 as it may deem necessary with respect to any license is18 sued by the Commission under the provisions of this Act.

19 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.

20 For the purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘geothermal

21 steam and associated geothermal resources’’ shall have the

22 same meaning as such term has in section 2(c) of the

23 Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001(c)).

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