II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1543 

To establish a national geothermal initiative to encourage increased production 

of energy from geothermal resources, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2007 

Mr. BINGAMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a national geothermal initiative to encourage 

increased production of energy from 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 ‘‘National Geothermal 

5 Initiative Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) domestic geothermal resources have the po9 tential to provide vast amounts of clean, renewable, 

10 and reliable energy to the United States; 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
2 

•S 1543 IS

1 (2) Federal policies and programs are critical to 

2 achieving the potential of those resources; 

3 (3) Federal tax policies should be modified to 

4 appropriately support the longer lead-times of geo5 thermal facilities and address the high risks of geo6 thermal exploration and development; 

7 (4) sustained and expanded research programs 

8 are needed— 

9 (A) to support the goal of increased energy 

10 production from geothermal resources; and 

11 (B) to develop the technologies that will 

12 enable commercial production of energy from 

13 more geothermal resources; 

14 (5) a comprehensive national resource assess15 ment is needed to support policymakers and industry 

16 needs; 

17 (6) a national exploration and development 

18 technology and information center should be estab19 lished to support the achievement of increased geo20 thermal energy production; and 

21 (7) implementation and completion of geo22 thermal and other renewable initiatives on public 

23 land in the United States is critical, consistent with 

24 the principles and requirements of the Federal Land 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
3 

•S 1543 IS

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

2 1701 et seq.) and other applicable law. 

3 SEC. 3. NATIONAL GOAL. 

4 Congress declares that it shall be a national goal to 

5 achieve 20 percent of total electrical energy production in 

6 the United States from geothermal resources by not later 

7 than 2030. 

8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘Initiative’’ means 

11 the national geothermal initiative established by sec12 tion 5(a). 

13 (2) NATIONAL GOAL.—The term ‘‘national 

14 goal’’ means the national goal of increased energy 

15 production from geothermal resources described in 

16 section 3. 

17 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Energy. 

19 SEC. 5. NATIONAL GEOTHERMAL INITIATIVE. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a na21 tional geothermal initiative under which the Federal Gov22 ernment shall seek to achieve the national goal. 

23 (b) FEDERAL SUPPORT AND COORDINATION.—In 

24 carrying out the Initiative, each Federal agency shall give 

25 priority to programs and efforts necessary to support 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
4 

•S 1543 IS

1 achievement of the national goal to the extent consistent 

2 with applicable law. 

3 (c) ENERGY AND INTERIOR GOALS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Initia5 tive, the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior 

6 shall establish and carry out policies and pro7 grams— 

8 (A) to characterize the complete geo9 thermal resource base (including engineered 

10 geothermal systems) of the United States by 

11 not later than 2010; 

12 (B) to sustain an annual growth rate in 

13 the use of geothermal power, heat, and heat 

14 pump applications of at least 10 percent; 

15 (C) to demonstrate state-of-the-art energy 

16 production from the full range of geothermal 

17 resources in the United States; 

18 (D) to achieve new power or commercial 

19 heat production from geothermal resources in 

20 at least 25 States; and 

21 (E) to develop the tools and techniques to 

22 construct an engineered geothermal system 

23 power plant. 

24 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 

25 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
5 

•S 1543 IS

1 every 3 years thereafter, the Secretary and the Sec2 retary of the Interior shall jointly submit to the ap3 propriate Committees of Congress a report that de4 scribes— 

5 (A) the proposed plan to achieve the goals 

6 described in paragraph (1); and 

7 (B) a description of the progress during 

8 the period covered by the report toward achiev9 ing those goals. 

10 (d) GEOTHERMAL RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, DEM11 ONSTRATION, AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

13 out a program of geothermal research, development, 

14 demonstration, outreach and education, and com15 mercial application to support the achievement of 

16 the national goal. 

17 (2) REQUIREMENTS OF PROGRAM.—In carrying 

18 out the geothermal research program described in 

19 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

20 (A) prioritize funding for the discovery and 

21 characterization of geothermal resources; 

22 (B) expand funding for cost-shared drill23 ing; 

24 (C)(i) establish, at a national laboratory or 

25 university research center selected by the SecVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:26 Jun 06, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1543.IS S1543

hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
6 

•S 1543 IS

1 retary, a national geothermal exploration re2 search and information center; 

3 (ii) support development and application of 

4 new exploration and development technologies 

5 through the center; and 

6 (iii) in cooperation with the Secretary of 

7 the Interior, disseminate geological and geo8 physical data to support geothermal exploration 

9 activities through the center; 

10 (D) support cooperative programs with and 

11 among States, including with the Great Basin 

12 Center for Geothermal Energy, the Inter13 mountain West Geothermal Consortium, and 

14 other similar State and regional initiatives, to 

15 expand knowledge of the geothermal resource 

16 base of the United States and potential applica17 tions of that resource base; 

18 (E) improve and advance high-temperature 

19 and high-pressure drilling, completion, and in20 strumentation technologies benefiting geo21 thermal well construction; 

22 (F) demonstrate geothermal applications in 

23 settings that, as of the date of enactment of 

24 this Act, are noncommercial; 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
7 

•S 1543 IS

1 (G) research, develop, and demonstrate en2 gineered geothermal systems techniques for 

3 commercial application of the technologies, in4 cluding advances in— 

5 (i) reservoir stimulation; 

6 (ii) reservoir characterization, moni7 toring, and modeling; 

8 (iii) stress mapping; 

9 (iv) tracer development; 

10 (v) 3-dimensional tomography; and 

11 (vi) understanding seismic effects of 

12 deep drilling and reservoir engineering; 

13 and 

14 (H) support the development and applica15 tion of the full range of geothermal technologies 

16 and applications. 

17 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec19 retary to carry out this subsection— 

20 (A) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

21 (B) $110,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

22 2009 through 2012; and 

23 (C) for fiscal year 2013 and each fiscal 

24 year thereafter through fiscal year 2030, such 

25 sums as are necessary. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
8 

•S 1543 IS

1 (e) GEOTHERMAL ASSESSMENT, EXPLORATION IN2 FORMATION, AND PRIORITY ACTIVITIES.— 

3 (1) INTERIOR.—In carrying out the Initiative, 

4 the Secretary of the Interior— 

5 (A) acting through the Director of the 

6 United States Geological Survey, shall, not later 

7 than 2010— 

8 (i) conduct and complete a com9 prehensive nationwide geothermal resource 

10 assessment that examines the full range of 

11 geothermal resources in the United States; 

12 and 

13 (ii) submit to the appropriate commit14 tees of Congress a report describing the re15 sults of the assessment; and 

16 (B) in planning and leasing, shall consider 

17 the national goal established under this Act. 

18 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec20 retary of the Interior to carry out this subsection— 

21 (A) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

22 (B) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

23 2009 to 2012; and 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
9 

•S 1543 IS

1 (C) for fiscal year 2013 and each fiscal 

2 year thereafter through fiscal year 2030, such 

3 sums as are necessary. 

4 SEC. 6. INTERMOUNTAIN WEST GEOTHERMAL CONSOR5 TIUM. 

6 Section 237 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

7 U.S.C. 15874) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec11 tion— 

12 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 

13 through 2013; and 

14 ‘‘(2) such sums as are necessary for each of fis15 cal years 2014 through 2020.’’. 

16 SEC. 7. INTERNATIONAL MARKET SUPPORT FOR GEO17 THERMAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT. 

18 (a) UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL

19 DEVELOPMENT.—The United States Agency for Inter20 national Development, in coordination with other appro21 priate Federal and multilateral agencies, shall support 

22 international and regional development to promote the use 

23 of geothermal resources, including (as appropriate) the Af24 rican Rift Geothermal Development Facility. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
10 

•S 1543 IS

1 (b) UNITED STATES TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

2 AGENCY.—The United States Trade and Development 

3 Agency shall support the Initiative by— 

4 (1) encouraging participation by United States 

5 firms in actions taken to carry out subsection (a); 

6 and 

7 (2) providing grants and other financial support 

8 for feasibility and resource assessment studies. 

9 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec11 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS