I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 174

To encourage greater use of geothermal energy resources. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2005

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on 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 encourage greater use of geothermal energy resources.

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 Initiative Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The last national resource assessment of 

9 geothermal energy resource sites in the United 

10 States was completed in 1978. There have been sub-
2

•HR 174 IH 

1 stantial changes in technology and advances in geo2 logical science in the intervening 26 years. 

3 (2) Many Federal land management agencies, 

4 including the Bureau of Land Management and the 

5 Forest Service, are not aware of geothermal energy 

6 resources and fail to recognize geothermal energy re7 sources in their land use planning process. Failure 

8 to recognize geothermal energy resources during the 

9 land use planning process poses significant delays in 

10 geothermal resource development. 

11 (3) The Bureau of Land Management has a 

12 backlog of 230 lease applications for prospecting for 

13 geothermal energy. The average age of these lease 

14 applications is 9 years. The oldest non-competitive 

15 application was received in 1974. 

16 (4) There appears to be a lack of focus and pri17 ority in the Bureau of Land Management concerning 

18 geothermal energy efforts. 

19 (5) Development of geothermal energy re20 sources is environmentally safe and clean. 

21 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY RE22 SOURCES. 

23 (a) RESOURCE ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 3 

24 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

25 each year thereafter, the Secretary of Energy shall review 
3

•HR 174 IH 

1 the available assessments of geothermal energy resources 

2 available within the United States and undertake new as3 sessments as necessary, taking into account changes in 

4 market conditions, available technologies, and other rel5 evant factors. 

6 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and each year 

8 thereafter, the Secretary shall publish a report based on 

9 the assessment under subsection (a). The report shall con10 tain a detailed inventory describing the available amount 

11 and characteristics of the geothermal energy resources, in12 cluding—

13 (1) descriptions of surrounding terrain, popu14 lation and load centers, nearby energy infrastruc15 ture, location of energy and water resources, and 

16 available estimates of the costs needed to develop 

17 each resource; 

18 (2) an identification of any barriers to pro19 viding adequate transmission for remote sources of 

20 geothermal energy resources to current and emerg21 ing markets; 

22 (3) recommendations for removing or address23 ing such barriers; and 
4

•HR 174 IH 

1 (4) ways to provide access to the grid that do 

2 not unfairly disadvantage renewable or other energy 

3 producers. 

4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

5 out this section there is authorized to be appropriated to 

6 the Secretary of the Interior $5,000,000 for fiscal years 

7 2006, 2007, and 2008. 

8 SEC. 4. ENHANCED ACCESS TO FEDERAL LANDS FOR GEO9 THERMAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT. 

10 (a) REVISION OF LAND USE PLANS.—

11 (1) PUBLIC LANDS.—The Secretary of the Inte12 rior shall expedite development of geothermal energy 

13 in making revisions to land use plans under section 

14 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

15 Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 1712) while protecting other 

16 resources. 

17 (2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.—The 

18 Secretary of Agriculture shall expedite development 

19 of geothermal energy in making revisions of land 

20 and resource management plans under section 6 of 

21 the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 

22 Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604) while pro23 tecting other resources. 

24 (3) ISSUANCE OF RIGHTS-OF-WAY NOT AF25 FECTED.—Nothing in this subsection shall preclude 
5

•HR 174 IH 

1 the issuance of a right-of-way for the development of 

2 a geothermal energy project prior to the revision of 

3 a land use plan by the appropriate land management 

4 agency. 

5 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 24 months after 

6 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 

7 of the Interior shall develop and report to the Congress 

8 recommendations on any statutory or regulatory changes 

9 the Secretary believes would assist in the development of 

10 geothermal energy on Federal land. The report shall in11 clude—

12 (1) a 5-year plan developed by the Secretary of 

13 the Interior, in cooperation with the Secretary of 

14 Agriculture, for encouraging the development of geo15 thermal energy on Federal land in an environ16 mentally sound manner; 

17 (2) an analysis of—

18 (A) whether the use of rights-of-ways is 

19 the best means of authorizing use of Federal 

20 land for the development of geothermal energy, 

21 or whether such resources could be better devel22 oped through a leasing system or other method; 

23 (B) the desirability of grants, loans, tax 

24 credits, or other provisions to promote geo-
6

•HR 174 IH 

1 thermal energy development on Federal land; 

2 and 

3 (C) any problems, including environmental 

4 concerns, that the Secretary of the Interior or 

5 the Secretary of Agriculture has encountered in 

6 managing geothermal energy projects on Fed7 eral land, or believe are likely to arise in rela8 tion to the development of geothermal energy 

9 on Federal land; and 

10 (3) a list, developed in consultation with the 

11 Secretaries of Energy and Defense, of lands under 

12 the jurisdiction of the Departments of Energy and 

13 Defense, respectively, that would be suitable for de14 velopment for geothermal energy, and recommended 

15 statutory and regulatory mechanisms for such devel16 opment. 

17 SEC. 5. CONSULTATION REGARDING GEOTHERMAL LEAS18 ING AND PERMITTING ON PUBLIC LANDS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

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

21 Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall enter into 

22 and submit to the Congress a memorandum of under23 standing in accordance with this section regarding leasing 

24 and permitting, for geothermal development, of public 

25 lands under their respective administrative jurisdictions. 
7

•HR 174 IH 

1 (b) LEASE AND PERMIT APPLICATIONS.—The memo2 randum of understanding shall include provisions that—

3 (1) identify known geothermal areas on public 

4 lands within the National Forest System and to the 

5 extent necessary review management plans to con6 sider leasing of such lands under the Geothermal 

7 Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) as a 

8 land use; 

9 (2) establish an administrative procedure for 

10 processing geothermal lease applications, including 

11 lines of authority, steps in application processing, 

12 and timeframes for application processing; 

13 (3) provide that the Secretary concerned 

14 shall—

15 (A) within 14 days after receiving an ap16 plication for a lease, determine whether the ap17 plication contains sufficient information to 

18 allow processing of the application; and 

19 (B) if the application is found not to con20 tain sufficient information to allow processing 

21 the application, before the end of such 14-day 

22 period, provide written notification to the lease 

23 applicant that the application is being returned 

24 to the applicant without processing and an 
8

•HR 174 IH 

1 itemization of the deficiencies in the application 

2 that prevent processing; 

3 (4) provide that the Secretary concerned shall 

4 within 30 days after receiving a lease application, 

5 provide written notice to the lease applicant regard6 ing the status of the application, including an esti7 mate of the time that will be required to complete 

8 action on the application; and 

9 (5) establish an administrative procedure for 

10 processing geothermal development permits, includ11 ing lines of authority, steps in permit processing, 

12 and timeframes for permit processing. 

13 (c) FIVE-YEAR LEASING PLAN.—The memorandum 

14 of understanding shall develop a 5-year plan for leasing 

15 under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 

16 et seq.) of public land in the National Forest System. The 

17 plan for geothermal leasing shall be updated every 5 years. 

18 (d) DATA RETRIEVAL SYSTEM.—The memorandum 

19 of understanding shall establish a joint data retrieval sys20 tem that is capable of—

21 (1) tracking lease and permit applications and 

22 requests; and 

23 (2) providing to the applicant or requester in24 formation as to their status within the Departments 
9

•HR 174 IH 

1 of the Interior and Agriculture, including an esti2 mate of the time required for administrative action. 

3 SEC. 6. REIMBURSEMENT FOR COSTS OF NEPA ANALYSES, 

4 DOCUMENTATION, AND STUDIES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Geothermal Steam Act of 

6 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 30. REIMBURSEMENT FOR COSTS OF NEPA ANAL9 YSES, DOCUMENTATION, AND STUDIES. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior 

11 may, through royalty credits, reimburse a person who is 

12 a lessee, operator, operating rights owner, or applicant for 

13 a lease under this Act for reasonable amounts paid by the 

14 person for preparation by the Secretary (or a contractor 

15 or other person selected by the Secretary) of any project16 level analysis, documentation, or related study required 

17 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

18 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect to the lease. 

19 ‘‘(b) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may provide reim20 bursement under subsection (a) only if—

21 ‘‘(1) adequate funding to enable the Secretary 

22 to timely prepare the analysis, documentation, or re23 lated study is not appropriated; 

24 ‘‘(2) the person paid the amounts voluntarily; 

25 and 
10

•HR 174 IH 

1 ‘‘(3) the person maintains records of its costs 

2 in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 

3 Secretary.’’. 

4 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by this 

5 section shall apply with respect to any lease entered into 

6 before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—The Secretary 

8 shall issue regulations implementing the amendment made 

9 by this section by not later than 90 days after the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 To carry out section 5 through 7 there are authorized 

13 to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior such 

14 sums as may be necessary.

Æ