I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3709 

To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to authorize noncompetitive 

leasing of certain areas adjoining other lands for which a qualified 

company or individual holds a pre-existing legal right to develop geothermal resources, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 1, 2009 

Mr. INSLEE (for himself, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. MINNICK, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to authorize 

noncompetitive leasing of certain areas adjoining other 

lands for which a qualified company or individual holds 

a pre-existing legal right to develop geothermal resources, 

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 Production 

5 Expansion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) It is in the best interest of the United 

2 States to develop clean renewable geothermal energy. 

3 (2) Development of such energy should be pro4 moted on appropriate Federal lands. 

5 (3) Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the 

6 Bureau of Land Management is authorized to issue 

7 three different types of non-competitive leases for 

8 production of geothermal energy on Federal lands, 

9 including non-competitive geothermal leases to min10 ing claim holders that have a valid operating plan, 

11 direct use leases, and leases on parcels that do not 

12 sell at a competitive auction. 

13 (4) Federal geothermal energy leasing activity 

14 should be directed towards those seeking to develop 

15 the land as opposed to those seeking to speculate on 

16 geothermal resources and thereby artificially raising 

17 the cost of legitimate geothermal energy develop18 ment. 

19 (5) Developers of geothermal energy on Federal 

20 lands that have invested substantial capital and 

21 made high risk investments should be allowed to se22 cure a discovery of geothermal energy resources. 

23 (6) Successful geothermal development on Fed24 eral lands will provide increased revenue to the FedVerDate Nov 24 2008 07:11 Oct 02, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3709.IH H3709

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1 eral Government, with the payment of production 

2 royalties over decades. 

3 SEC. 3. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS 

4 FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GEOTHERMAL RE5 SOURCES. 

6 The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 is amended— 

7 (1) in section 2 (30 U.S.C. 1001)— 

8 (A) by striking the period at the end of 

9 each of paragraphs (e) and (f) and inserting a 

10 semicolon; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘, and’’ at the end of para12 graph (g) and inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraphs: 

15 ‘‘(h) ‘industry standards’ means the standards 

16 by which a qualified geothermal professional assesses 

17 whether downhole or flowing temperature measure18 ments with indications of permeability are sufficient 

19 to produce geothermal steam or geothermal re20 sources as determined through flow or injection test21 ing or measurement of lost circulation while drilling; 

22 ‘‘(i) ‘qualified geothermal professional’ means 

23 an individual who is an engineer or geoscientist in 

24 good professional standing with at least five years of 

25 experience in geothermal exploration, development, 


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1 project assessment, or any combination of the for2 going; 

3 ‘‘(j) the term ‘qualified lessee’ means a person 

4 that may hold a geothermal lease under part 

5 3202.10 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, as 

6 in effect on the date of enactment of the Geothermal 

7 Production Expansion Act; and 

8 ‘‘(k) ‘valid discovery’ means a discovery of a 

9 geothermal resource by a new or existing slim hole 

10 or production well, that exhibits downhole or flowing 

11 temperature measurements with indications of per12 meability sufficient to meet industry standards.’’; 

13 and 

14 (2) in section 4(b) (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)), by add15 ing at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) ADJOINING LANDS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Areas that adjoin 

18 Federal lands for which a qualified lessee holds 

19 a legal right to develop geothermal resources 

20 may be available for noncompetitive lease under 

21 this section to the qualified lessee at the fair 

22 market value per acre, if— 

23 ‘‘(i) the adjoining areas— 

24 ‘‘(I) consist of an area of not 

25 more than a total of 640 acres; 


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1 ‘‘(II) each consist of not less 

2 than one acre; 

3 ‘‘(III) are not already leased 

4 under this Act or nominated to be 

5 leased under subsection (a); 

6 ‘‘(ii) the qualified lessee has not pre7 viously received a noncompetitive lease 

8 under this paragraph in connection with 

9 the valid discovery for which data has been 

10 submitted under subclause (I) of clause 

11 (iii); and 

12 ‘‘(iii) sufficient geological and other 

13 technical data prepared by a qualified geo14 thermal professional has been submitted by 

15 the qualified lessee to the relevant Federal 

16 land management agency that would en17 gender a belief in individuals who are expe18 rienced in the subject matter that— 

19 ‘‘(I) there is a valid discovery of 

20 geothermal steam or geothermal re21 sources on the lands for which the 

22 qualified lesseeholds the legal right to 

23 develop geothermal resources; and 

24 ‘‘(II) such thermal feature ex25 tends into the adjoining areas. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FAIR MARKET VALUE PER ACRE DE2 FINED.—As used in this paragraph, the term 

3 ‘fair market value per acre’ means a dollar 

4 amount per acre that— 

5 ‘‘(i) except as provided in this sub6 paragraph, shall be equal to the market 

7 value per acre, as determined by the Sec8 retary; 

9 ‘‘(ii) shall be determined by the Sec10 retary with respect to a lease under this 

11 paragraph, by not later than the end of the 

12 90-day period beginning on the date the 

13 Secretary receives an application for the 

14 lease; 

15 ‘‘(iii) if the Secretary does not deter16 mine the fair market value per acre for a 

17 lease before the end of the period referred 

18 to in clause (ii), shall be $100 per acre 

19 (adjusted by the Secretary for inflation an20 nually beginning with fiscal year 2011) 

21 until the Secretary establishes such fair 

22 market value; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) for any lease for which an appli24 cation is received before the end of the 15- 

25 year period beginning on the date of the 


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1 enactment of this clause, shall not exceed 

2 $200 per acre (adjusted by the Secretary 

3 for inflation annually beginning with fiscal 

4 year 2011).’’. 

Æ 


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