IB 

Union Calendar No. 561 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3794 

[Report No. 116–677, Part I] 

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

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2019 

Mr. GOSAR (for himself, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. BEYER, Mr. 

BIGGS, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. DELBENE, Mrs. 

DINGELL, Mr. GAETZ, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. 

SCHWEIKERT, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. STEWART, Mr. YOUNG, 

Mr. COOK, Mr. MARSHALL, and Mr. GIANFORTE) 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 

DECEMBER 18, 2020 

Additional sponsors: Mr. CASE, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. THOMPSON of California, 

Mr. VAN DREW, Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. 

TITUS, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. RUIZ, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. WATKINS, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Mr. NEAL, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. BACON, Ms. SLOTKIN, 

Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. KILMER, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. PINGREE, 

Mr. PETERS, Mr. LAMBORN, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KIND, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KIM, Mr. COX of California, Mr. 

KEATING, Mr. CROW, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. COOPER, Mr. MCADAMS, 

Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. COSTA, Mr. SIRES, 

Mr. POSEY, Mr. KATKO, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, and Mrs. BEATTY

DECEMBER 18, 2020 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment 


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

DECEMBER 18, 2020 

Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the 

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 17, 2019] 

A BILL 

To promote the development of renewable energy on public 

lands, and for other purposes. 


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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 Renewable 

5 Energy Development Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Land use planning; supplements to programmatic environmental impact 

statements. 

Sec. 5. Environmental review on covered land. 

Sec. 6. Program to improve renewable energy project permit coordination. 

Sec. 7. Increasing economic certainty. 

Sec. 8. Limited grandfathering. 

Sec. 9. Renewable energy goal. 

Sec. 10. Disposition of revenues. 

Sec. 11. Promoting and enhancing development of geothermal energy. 

Sec. 12. Facilitation of coproduction of geothermal energy on oil and gas leases. 

Sec. 13. Noncompetitive leasing of adjoining areas for development of geothermal 

resources. 

Sec. 14. Savings clause. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

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

11 means land that is— 

12 (A) public lands administered by the Sec13 retary; and 

14 (B) not excluded from the development of 

15 geothermal, solar, or wind energy under— 

16 (i) a land use plan established under 

17 the Federal Land Policy and Management 

18 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 


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1 (ii) other Federal law. 

2 (2) EXCLUSION AREA.—The term ‘‘exclusion 

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

4 Bureau of Land Management as not suitable for de5 velopment of renewable energy projects. 

6 (3) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

7 means— 

8 (A) land of the National Forest System (as 

9 defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range10 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 

11 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))); or 

12 (B) public lands. 

13 (4) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Renew14 able Energy Resource Conservation Fund established 

15 by section 10(c)(1). 

16 (5) PRIORITY AREA.—The term ‘‘priority area’’ 

17 means covered land identified by the land use plan18 ning process of the Bureau of Land Management as 

19 being a preferred location for a renewable energy 

20 project, including a designated leasing area (as de21 fined in section 2801.5(b) of title 43, Code of Federal 

22 Regulations (or a successor regulation)) that is identi23 fied under the rule of the Bureau of Land Manage24 ment entitled ‘‘Competitive Processes, Terms, and 

25 Conditions for Leasing Public Lands for Solar and 


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1 Wind Energy Development and Technical Changes 

2 and Corrections’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 92122 (December 19, 

3 2016)) (or a successor regulation). 

4 (6) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 

5 has the meaning given that term in section 103 of the 

6 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

7 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 

8 (7) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT.—The term 

9 ‘‘renewable energy project’’ means a project carried 

10 out on covered land that uses wind, solar, or geo11 thermal energy to generate energy. 

12 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of the Interior. 

14 (9) VARIANCE AREA.—The term ‘‘variance area’’ 

15 means covered land that is— 

16 (A) not an exclusion area; 

17 (B) not a priority area; and 

18 (C) identified by the Secretary as poten19 tially available for renewable energy development 

20 and could be approved without a plan amend21 ment, consistent with the principles of multiple 

22 use (as that term is defined in the Federal Land 

23 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

24 1701 et seq.)). 


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1 SEC. 4. LAND USE PLANNING; SUPPLEMENTS TO PRO2 GRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 

3 STATEMENTS. 

4 (a) PRIORITY AREAS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

6 with the Secretary of Energy, shall establish priority 

7 areas on covered land for geothermal, solar, and wind 

8 energy projects. Projects located in those priority 

9 areas shall be given the highest priority for review, 

10 and shall be offered the opportunity to participate in 

11 any regional mitigation plan developed for the rel12 evant priority areas. 

13 (2) DEADLINE.— 

14 (A) GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.—For geo15 thermal energy, the Secretary shall establish pri16 ority areas as soon as practicable, but not later 

17 than 5 years, after the date of the enactment of 

18 this Act. 

19 (B) SOLAR ENERGY.—For solar energy, 

20 solar Designated Leasing Areas, including the 

21 solar energy zones established by the 2012 west22 ern solar plan of the Bureau of Land Manage23 ment and any subsequent land use plan amend24 ments, shall be considered to be priority areas for 

25 solar energy projects. The Secretary shall estab26 lish additional solar priority areas as soon as 


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1 practicable, but not later than 3 years, after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (C) WIND ENERGY.—For wind energy, the 

4 Secretary shall establish additional wind pri5 ority areas as soon as practicable, but not later 

6 than 3 years, after the date of the enactment of 

7 this Act. 

8 (b) VARIANCE AREAS.—To the maximum extent prac9 ticable, variance areas shall be considered for renewable en10 ergy project development, consistent with the principles of 

11 multiple use (as defined in the Federal Land Policy and 

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

13 (c) REVIEW AND MODIFICATION.—Not less than once 

14 every 5 years, the Secretary shall— 

15 (1) review the adequacy of land allocations for 

16 geothermal, solar, and wind energy priority and vari17 ance areas for the purpose of encouraging new renew18 able energy development opportunities; and 

19 (2) based on the review carried out under para20 graph (1), add, modify, or eliminate priority, vari21 ance, and exclusion areas. 

22 (d) COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRON23 MENTAL POLICY ACT.—For purposes of this section, compli24 ance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

25 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be accomplished— 


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1 (1) for geothermal energy, by supplementing the 

2 October 2008 final programmatic environmental im3 pact statement for geothermal leasing in the Western 

4 United States and incorporating any additional re5 gional analyses that have been completed by Federal 

6 agencies since the programmatic environmental im7 pact statement was finalized; 

8 (2) for solar energy, by supplementing the July 

9 2012 final programmatic environmental impact state10 ment for solar energy development and incorporating 

11 any additional regional analyses that have been com12 pleted by Federal agencies since the programmatic en13 vironmental impact statement was finalized; and 

14 (3) for wind energy, by supplementing the July 

15 2005 final programmatic environmental impact state16 ment for wind energy development and incorporating 

17 any additional regional analyses that have been com18 pleted by Federal agencies since the programmatic en19 vironmental impact statement was finalized. 

20 (e) NO EFFECT ON PROCESSING APPLICATIONS.—Any 

21 requirements to prepare a supplement to a programmatic 

22 environmental impact statement under this section shall 

23 not result in any delay in processing a pending application 

24 for a renewable energy project. 


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1 (f) COORDINATION.—In developing a supplement re2 quired by this section, the Secretary shall coordinate, on 

3 an ongoing basis, with appropriate State, Tribal, and local 

4 governments, transmission infrastructure owners and oper5 ators, developers, and other appropriate entities to ensure 

6 that priority areas identified by the Secretary are— 

7 (1) economically viable (including having access 

8 to existing and/or planned transmission lines); 

9 (2) likely to avoid or minimize impacts to habi10 tat for animals and plants, recreation, cultural re11 sources, and other uses of covered land; and 

12 (3) consistent with section 202 of the Federal 

13 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

14 1712), including subsection (c)(9) of that section (43 

15 U.S.C. 1712(c)(9)). 

16 SEC. 5. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW ON COVERED LAND. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary determines that a 

18 proposed renewable energy project has been sufficiently ana19 lyzed by a programmatic environmental impact statement 

20 conducted under section 4(d), the Secretary shall not re21 quire any additional review under the National Environ22 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The 

23 Secretary shall publish any such project determinations on 

24 a publicly available website. 


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1 (b) ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—If the 

2 Secretary determines that additional environmental review 

3 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

4 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) is necessary for a proposed renewable 

5 energy project, the Secretary shall rely on the analysis in 

6 the programmatic environmental impact statement con7 ducted under section 4(d), to the maximum extent prac8 ticable when analyzing the potential impacts of the project. 

9 (c) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.—Nothing in this 

10 section modifies or supersedes any requirement under appli11 cable law. 

12 SEC. 6. PROGRAM TO IMPROVE RENEWABLE ENERGY 

13 PROJECT PERMIT COORDINATION. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish a 

15 national Renewable Energy Coordination Office and State, 

16 district, or field offices with responsibility to establish and 

17 implement a program to improve Federal permit coordina18 tion with respect to renewable energy projects on covered 

19 land and other activities deemed necessary by the Secretary. 

20 In carrying out the program, the Secretary may tempo21 rarily assign qualified staff to Renewable Energy Coordina22 tion Offices to expedite the permitting of renewable energy 

23 projects. 

24 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 


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

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

3 shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for 

4 purposes of this section, including to specifically expe5 dite the environmental analysis of applications for 

6 projects proposed in a variance area or a priority 

7 area, with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 

8 of Agriculture. 

9 (2) STATE AND TRIBAL PARTICIPATION.—The 

10 Secretary may request the Governor of any interested 

11 State or any Tribal leader of any interested Indian 

12 Tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-De13 termination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

14 5304)) to be a signatory to the memorandum of un15 derstanding under paragraph (1). 

16 (c) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED STAFF.— 

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

18 the date on which the memorandum of understanding 

19 under subsection (b) is executed, all Federal signato20 ries, as appropriate, shall identify for each of the Bu21 reau of Land Management Renewable Energy Coordi22 nation Offices one or more employees who have exper23 tise in the regulatory issues relating to the office in 

24 which the employee is employed, including, as appli25 cable, particular expertise in— 


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1 (A) consultation regarding, and prepara2 tion of, biological opinions under section 7 of the 

3 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

4 1536); 

5 (B) permits under section 404 of the Fed6 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

7 1344); 

8 (C) regulatory matters under the Clean Air 

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); 

10 (D) the Federal Land Policy and Manage11 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); 

12 (E) the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 

13 U.S.C. 703 et seq.); 

14 (F) the preparation of analyses under the 

15 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

16 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

17 (G) implementation of the requirements of 

18 section 306108 of title 54, United States Code 

19 (formerly known as section 106 of the National 

20 Historic Preservation Act); 

21 (H) planning under section 14 of the Na22 tional Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 

23 U.S.C. 472a); 

24 (I) the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection 

25 Act (16 U.S.C. 668–668d); and 


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1 (J) section 100101(a), chapter 1003, and 

2 sections 100751(a), 100752, 100753 and 102101 

3 of title 54 , United States Code (previously 

4 known as the ‘‘National Park Service Organic 

5 Act’’). 

6 (2) DUTIES.—Each employee assigned under 

7 paragraph (1) shall— 

8 (A) be responsible for addressing all issues 

9 relating to the jurisdiction of the home office or 

10 agency of the employee; and 

11 (B) participate as part of the team of per12 sonnel working on proposed energy projects, 

13 planning, monitoring, inspection, enforcement, 

14 and environmental analyses. 

15 (d) ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—The Secretary may as16 sign such additional personnel for the Bureau of Land 

17 Management Renewable Energy Coordination Offices as are 

18 necessary to ensure the effective implementation of any pro19 grams administered by the offices in accordance with the 

20 multiple use mandate of the Federal Land Policy and Man21 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

22 (e) CLARIFICATION OF EXISTING AUTHORITY.—Under 

23 section 307 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

24 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1737), the Bureau of Land Manage25 ment may— 


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1 (1) accept donations for the purposes of public 

2 lands management; and 

3 (2) accept donations from renewable energy com4 panies working on public lands to help cover the costs 

5 of environmental reviews. 

6 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 1 of 

8 the first fiscal year beginning after the date of the en9 actment of this Act, and each February 1 thereafter, 

10 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on En11 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

12 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep13 resentatives a report describing the progress made 

14 under the program established under subsection (a) 

15 during the preceding year. 

16 (2) INCLUSIONS.—Each report under this sub17 section shall include— 

18 (A) projections for renewable energy produc19 tion and capacity installations; and 

20 (B) a description of any problems relating 

21 to leasing, permitting, siting, or production. 

22 SEC. 7. INCREASING ECONOMIC CERTAINTY. 

23 (a) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

24 and shall consider acreage rental rates, capacity fees, and 

25 other recurring annual fees in total when evaluating existVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:30 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3794.RH H3794

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1 ing rates paid for the use of Federal land by renewable en2 ergy projects. 

3 (b) INCREASES IN BASE RENTAL RATES.—Once a base 

4 rental rate is established upon the issuance of a right-of5 way authorization, increases in the base rent shall be lim6 ited to the Implicit Price Deflator–Gross Domestic Product 

7 (IPD–GDP) index for the entire term of the right-of-way 

8 authorization. 

9 (c) REDUCTIONS IN BASE RENTAL RATES.—The Sec10 retary is authorized to reduce acreage rental rates and ca11 pacity fees, or both, for existing and new wind and solar 

12 authorizations if the Secretary determines— 

13 (1) that the existing rates— 

14 (A) exceed fair market value; 

15 (B) impose economic hardships; 

16 (C) limit commercial interest in a competi17 tive lease sale or right-of-way grant; or 

18 (D) are not competitively priced compared 

19 to other available land; or 

20 (2) that a reduced rental rate or capacity fee is 

21 necessary to promote the greatest use of wind and 

22 solar energy resources, especially those resources in23 side priority areas. Rental rates and capacity fees for 

24 projects that are within the boundaries of a Des25 ignated Leasing Area but not formally recognized as 


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1 being in such an area shall be equivalent to rents and 

2 fees for new leases inside of a Designated Leasing 

3 Area. 

4 SEC. 8. LIMITED GRANDFATHERING. 

5 (a) DEFINITION OF PROJECT.—In this section, the 

6 term ‘‘project’’ means a system described in section 

7 2801.9(a)(4) of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (as 

8 in effect on the date of enactment of this Act). 

9 (b) REQUIREMENT TO PAY RENTS AND FEES.—Unless 

10 otherwise agreed to by the owner of a project, the owner 

11 of a project that applied for a right-of-way under section 

12 501 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

13 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) on or before December 19, 2016, shall 

14 be obligated to pay with respect to the right-of-way all rents 

15 and fees in effect before the effective date of the rule of the 

16 Bureau of Land Management entitled ‘‘Competitive Proc17 esses, Terms, and Conditions for Leasing Public Lands for 

18 Solar and Wind Energy Development and Technical 

19 Changes and Corrections’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 92122 (December 

20 19, 2016)). 

21 SEC. 9. RENEWABLE ENERGY GOAL. 

22 The Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

23 seek to issue permits that, in total, authorize production 

24 of not less than 25 gigawatts of electricity from wind, solar, 

25 and geothermal energy projects by not later than 2025, 


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1 through management of public lands and administration 

2 of Federal laws. 

3 SEC. 10. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES. 

4 (a) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.—Beginning on Janu5 ary 1, 2020, of the amounts collected as bonus bids, rentals, 

6 fees, or other payments under a right-of-way, permit, lease, 

7 or other authorization (other than under section 504(g) of 

8 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

9 U.S.C. 1764(g))) for the development of wind or solar en10 ergy on covered land or National Forest System land, the 

11 following shall be made available without further appro12 priation or fiscal year limitation as follows: 

13 (1) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by the Sec14 retary of the Treasury to the State within the bound15 aries of which the revenue is derived. 

16 (2) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by the Sec17 retary of the Treasury to the one or more counties 

18 within the boundaries of which the revenue is derived, 

19 to be allocated among the counties based on the per20 centage of land from which the revenue is derived. 

21 (3) Fifteen percent shall be deposited in the 

22 Treasury and be made available to the Secretary to 

23 carry out the program established under this Act, in24 cluding the transfer of the funds by the Bureau of 

25 Land Management to other Federal agencies and 


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1 State agencies to facilitate the processing of renewable 

2 energy permits on Federal land, with priority given 

3 to using the amounts, to the maximum extent prac4 ticable without detrimental impacts to emerging mar5 kets, to expediting the issuance of permits required for 

6 the development of renewable energy projects in the 

7 States from which the revenues are derived. 

8 (4) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited in the 

9 Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund estab10 lished by subsection (c). 

11 (5) The remainder shall be deposited into the 

12 general fund of the Treasury for purposes of reducing 

13 the annual Federal budget deficit. 

14 (b) PAYMENTS TO STATES AND COUNTIES.— 

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

16 counties under subsection (a) shall be used consistent 

17 with section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

18 191). 

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

20 to a county under paragraph (1) shall be in addition 

21 to a payment in lieu of taxes received by the county 

22 under chapter 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 En3 ergy Resource Conservation Fund, which shall be ad4 ministered by the Secretary, in consultation with the 

5 Secretary of Agriculture. 

6 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may make 

7 amounts in the Fund available to Federal, State, 

8 local, and Tribal agencies to be distributed in regions 

9 in which renewable energy projects are located on 

10 Federal land, for the purposes of— 

11 (A) restoring and protecting— 

12 (i) fish and wildlife habitat for affected 

13 species; 

14 (ii) fish and wildlife corridors for af15 fected species; and 

16 (iii) wetlands, streams, rivers, and 

17 other natural water bodies in areas affected 

18 by wind, geothermal, or solar energy devel19 opment; and 

20 (B) preserving and improving recreational 

21 access to Federal land and water in an affected 

22 region through an easement, right-of-way, or 

23 other instrument from willing landowners for the 

24 purpose of enhancing public access to existing 


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1 Federal land and water that is inaccessible or re2 stricted. 

3 (3) RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS.—No funds 

4 made available under this subsection may be used for 

5 the purchase of real property unless in fulfillment of 

6 paragraph (2)(B). 

7 (4) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary may enter 

8 into cooperative agreements with State and Tribal 

9 agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other appro10 priate entities to carry out the activities described in 

11 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2). 

12 (5) INVESTMENT OF FUND.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any amounts deposited 

14 in the Fund shall earn interest in an amount de15 termined by the Secretary of the Treasury on the 

16 basis of the current average market yield on out17 standing marketable obligations of the United 

18 States of comparable maturities. 

19 (B) USE.—Any interest earned under sub20 paragraph (A) may be expended in accordance 

21 with this subsection. 

22 (6) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—At the end of each 

23 fiscal year, the Secretary shall report to the Com24 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of RepVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:30 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3794.RH H3794

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1 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat2 ural Resources of the Senate— 

3 (A) the amount collected as described in 

4 subsection (a), by source, during that fiscal year; 

5 (B) the amount and purpose of payments 

6 during that fiscal year to each Federal, State, 

7 local, and Tribal agency under paragraph (2); 

8 and 

9 (C) the amount remaining in the Fund at 

10 the end of the fiscal year. 

11 (7) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—It is the intent of 

12 Congress that the revenues deposited and used in the 

13 Fund shall supplement (and not supplant) annual 

14 appropriations for activities described in subpara15 graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2). 

16 SEC. 11. PROMOTING AND ENHANCING DEVELOPMENT OF 

17 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 234(a) of the Energy Pol19 icy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15873(a)) is amended by strik20 ing ‘‘in the first 5 fiscal years beginning after the date of 

21 enactment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘through fiscal year 

22 2022’’. 

23 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 234(b) of the Energy 

24 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15873(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Amounts’’ and inserting the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION.—Effective for fiscal year 

6 2019 and each fiscal year thereafter, amounts depos7 ited under subsection (a) shall be available to the Sec8 retary of the Interior for expenditure, without further 

9 appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to implement 

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

11 et seq.) and this Act.’’. 

12 SEC. 12. FACILITATION OF COPRODUCTION OF GEO13 THERMAL ENERGY ON OIL AND GAS LEASES. 

14 Section 4(b) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 

15 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(4) LAND SUBJECT TO OIL AND GAS LEASE.— 

18 Land under an oil and gas lease issued pursuant to 

19 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the 

20 Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 

21 351 et seq.) that is subject to an approved application 

22 for permit to drill and from which oil and gas pro23 duction is occurring may be available for noncompeti24 tive leasing under subsection (c) by the holder of the 

25 oil and gas lease— 


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1 ‘‘(A) on a determination that geothermal 

2 energy will be produced from a well producing 

3 or capable of producing oil and gas; and 

4 ‘‘(B) in order to provide for the coproduc5 tion of geothermal energy with oil and gas.’’. 

6 SEC. 13. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS 

7 FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GEOTHERMAL RE8 SOURCES. 

9 Section 4(b) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 

10 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is further amended by adding at the end 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(5) ADJOINING LAND.— 

13 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(i) FAIR MARKET VALUE PER ACRE.— 

15 The term ‘fair market value per acre’ means 

16 a dollar amount per acre that— 

17 ‘‘(I) except as provided in this 

18 clause, shall be equal to the market 

19 value per acre (taking into account the 

20 determination under subparagraph 

21 (B)(iii) regarding a valid discovery on 

22 the adjoining land) as determined by 

23 the Secretary under regulations issued 

24 under this paragraph; 


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1 ‘‘(II) shall be determined by the 

2 Secretary with respect to a lease under 

3 this paragraph, by not later than the 

4 end of the 180-day period beginning on 

5 the date the Secretary receives an ap6 plication for the lease; and 

7 ‘‘(III) shall be not less than the 

8 greater of— 

9 ‘‘(aa) 4 times the median 

10 amount paid per acre for all land 

11 leased under this Act during the 

12 preceding year; or 

13 ‘‘(bb) $50. 

14 ‘‘(ii) INDUSTRY STANDARDS.—The 

15 term ‘industry standards’ means the stand16 ards by which a qualified geothermal profes17 sional assesses whether downhole or flowing 

18 temperature measurements with indications 

19 of permeability are sufficient to produce en20 ergy from geothermal resources, as deter21 mined through flow or injection testing or 

22 measurement of lost circulation while drill23 ing. 

24 ‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED FEDERAL LAND.— 

25 The term ‘qualified Federal land’ means 


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1 land that is otherwise available for leasing 

2 under this Act. 

3 ‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED GEOTHERMAL PRO4 FESSIONAL.—The term ‘qualified geo5 thermal professional’ means an individual 

6 who is an engineer or geoscientist in good 

7 professional standing with at least 5 years 

8 of experience in geothermal exploration, de9 velopment, or project assessment. 

10 ‘‘(v) QUALIFIED LESSEE.—The term 

11 ‘qualified lessee’ means a person who may 

12 hold a geothermal lease under this Act (in13 cluding applicable regulations). 

14 ‘‘(vi) VALID DISCOVERY.—The term 

15 ‘valid discovery’ means a discovery of a geo16 thermal resource by a new or existing slim 

17 hole or production well, that exhibits 

18 downhole or flowing temperature measure19 ments with indications of permeability that 

20 are sufficient to meet industry standards. 

21 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY.—An area of qualified 

22 Federal land that adjoins other land for which a 

23 qualified lessee holds a legal right to develop geo24 thermal resources may be available for a nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:30 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3794.RH H3794

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1 competitive lease under this section to the quali2 fied lessee at the fair market value per acre, if— 

3 ‘‘(i) the area of qualified Federal 

4 land— 

5 ‘‘(I) consists of not less than 1 

6 acre and not more than 640 acres; and 

7 ‘‘(II) is not already leased under 

8 this Act or nominated to be leased 

9 under subsection (a); 

10 ‘‘(ii) the qualified lessee has not pre11 viously received a noncompetitive lease 

12 under this paragraph in connection with 

13 the valid discovery for which data has been 

14 submitted under clause (iii)(I); and 

15 ‘‘(iii) sufficient geological and other 

16 technical data prepared by a qualified geo17 thermal professional has been submitted by 

18 the qualified lessee to the applicable Federal 

19 land management agency that would lead 

20 individuals who are experienced in the sub21 ject matter to believe that— 

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

23 geothermal resources on the land for 

24 which the qualified lessee holds the 


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1 legal right to develop geothermal re2 sources; and 

3 ‘‘(II) that geothermal feature ex4 tends into the adjoining areas. 

5 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF FAIR MARKET

6 VALUE.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(I) publish a notice of any re10 quest to lease land under this para11 graph; 

12 ‘‘(II) determine fair market value 

13 for purposes of this paragraph in ac14 cordance with procedures for making 

15 those determinations that are estab16 lished by regulations issued by the Sec17 retary; 

18 ‘‘(III) provide to a qualified lessee 

19 and publish, with an opportunity for 

20 public comment for a period of 30 

21 days, any proposed determination 

22 under this subparagraph of the fair 

23 market value of an area that the quali24 fied lessee seeks to lease under this 

25 paragraph; and 


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1 ‘‘(IV) provide to the qualified les2 see and any adversely affected party 

3 the opportunity to appeal the final de4 termination of fair market value in an 

5 administrative proceeding before the 

6 applicable Federal land management 

7 agency, in accordance with applicable 

8 law (including regulations). 

9 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON NOMINATION.— 

10 After publication of a notice of request to 

11 lease land under this paragraph, the Sec12 retary may not accept under subsection (a) 

13 any nomination of the land for leasing un14 less the request has been denied or with15 drawn. 

16 ‘‘(iii) ANNUAL RENTAL.—For purposes 

17 of section 5(a)(3), a lease awarded under 

18 this paragraph shall be considered a lease 

19 awarded in a competitive lease sale. 

20 ‘‘(D) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 

21 days after the date of the enactment of this para22 graph, the Secretary shall issue regulations to 

23 carry out this paragraph.’’. 


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1 SEC. 14. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

2 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the 

3 Secretary shall continue to manage public lands under the 

4 principles of multiple use and sustained yield in accordance 

5 with title I of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

6 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), including due consid7 eration of mineral and nonrenewable energy-related projects 

8 and other nonrenewable energy uses, for the purposes of 

9 land use planning, permit processing, and conducting envi10 ronmental reviews. 


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Union Calendar No. 561 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3794 

[Report No. 116–677, Part I] 

A BILL 

To promote the development of renewable energy 

on public lands, and for other purposes. 

DECEMBER 18, 2020 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with 

an amendment 

DECEMBER 18, 2020 

Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the 

Union and ordered to be printed Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 


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