ID 

Union Calendar No. 540 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 363 

[Report No. 113–709] 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2014 

Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 22, 2014 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To expand geothermal production, 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 ‘‘Geothermal Production 

5 Expansion Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS 

7 FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GEOTHERMAL RE8 SOURCES. 

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

10 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(4) ADJOINING LAND.— 

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

14 ‘‘(i) FAIR MARKET VALUE PER

15 ACRE.—The term ‘fair market value per 

16 acre’ means a dollar amount per acre 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(I) except as provided in this 

19 clause, shall be equal to the market 

20 value per acre (taking into account 

21 the determination under subparagraph 

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

23 the adjoining land) as determined by 

24 the Secretary under regulations issued 

25 under this paragraph; 


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1 ‘‘(II) shall be determined by the 

2 Secretary with respect to a lease 

3 under this paragraph, by not later 

4 than the end of the 180-day period 

5 beginning on the date the Secretary 

6 receives an application for the lease; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(III) shall be not less than the 

9 greater of— 

10 ‘‘(aa) 4 times the median 

11 amount paid per acre for all land 

12 leased under this Act during the 

13 preceding year; or 

14 ‘‘(bb) $50. 

15 ‘‘(ii) INDUSTRY STANDARDS.—The 

16 term ‘industry standards’ means the stand17 ards by which a qualified geothermal pro18 fessional assesses whether downhole or 

19 flowing temperature measurements with 

20 indications of permeability are sufficient to 

21 produce energy from geothermal resources, 

22 as determined through flow or injection 

23 testing or measurement of lost circulation 

24 while drilling. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED FEDERAL LAND.— 

2 The term ‘qualified Federal land’ means 

3 land that is otherwise available for leasing 

4 under this Act. 

5 ‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED GEOTHERMAL PRO6 FESSIONAL.—The term ‘qualified geo7 thermal professional’ means an individual 

8 who is an engineer or geoscientist in good 

9 professional standing with at least 5 years 

10 of experience in geothermal exploration, 

11 development, or project assessment. 

12 ‘‘(v) QUALIFIED LESSEE.—The term 

13 ‘qualified lessee’ means a person that may 

14 hold a geothermal lease under this Act (in15 cluding applicable regulations). 

16 ‘‘(vi) VALID DISCOVERY.—The term 

17 ‘valid discovery’ means a discovery of a 

18 geothermal resource by a new or existing 

19 slim hole or production well, that exhibits 

20 downhole or flowing temperature measure21 ments with indications of permeability that 

22 are sufficient to meet industry standards. 

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

24 Federal land that adjoins other land for which 

25 a qualified lessee holds a legal right to develop 


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1 geothermal resources may be available for a 

2 noncompetitive lease under this section to the 

3 qualified lessee at the fair market value per 

4 acre, if— 

5 ‘‘(i) the area of qualified Federal 

6 land— 

7 ‘‘(I) consists of not less than 1 

8 acre and not more than 640 acres; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) is not already leased under 

11 this Act or nominated to be leased 

12 under subsection (a); 

13 ‘‘(ii) the qualified lessee has not pre14 viously received a noncompetitive lease 

15 under this paragraph in connection with 

16 the valid discovery for which data has been 

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

18 ‘‘(iii) sufficient geological and other 

19 technical data prepared by a qualified geo20 thermal professional has been submitted by 

21 the qualified lessee to the applicable Fed22 eral land management agency that would 

23 lead individuals who are experienced in the 

24 subject matter to believe that— 


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

2 geothermal resources on the land for 

3 which the qualified lessee holds the 

4 legal right to develop geothermal re5 sources; and 

6 ‘‘(II) that thermal feature ex7 tends into the adjoining areas. 

8 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF FAIR MARKET

9 VALUE.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(I) publish a notice of any re13 quest to lease land under this para14 graph; 

15 ‘‘(II) determine fair market value 

16 for purposes of this paragraph in ac17 cordance with procedures for making 

18 those determinations that are estab19 lished by regulations issued by the 

20 Secretary; 

21 ‘‘(III) provide to a qualified les22 see and publish, with an opportunity 

23 for public comment for a period of 30 

24 days, any proposed determination 

25 under this subparagraph of the fair 


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1 market value of an area that the 

2 qualified lessee seeks to lease under 

3 this paragraph; and 

4 ‘‘(IV) provide to the qualified les5 see and any adversely affected party 

6 the opportunity to appeal the final de7 termination of fair market value in an 

8 administrative proceeding before the 

9 applicable Federal land management 

10 agency, in accordance with applicable 

11 law (including regulations). 

12 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON NOMINATION.— 

13 After publication of a notice of request to 

14 lease land under this paragraph, the Sec15 retary may not accept under subsection (a) 

16 any nomination of the land for leasing un17 less the request has been denied or with18 drawn. 

19 ‘‘(iii) ANNUAL RENTAL.—For pur20 poses of section 5(a)(3), a lease awarded 

21 under this paragraph shall be considered a 

22 lease awarded in a competitive lease sale. 

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

24 days after the date of enactment of the Geo25 thermal Production Expansion Act of 2013, the 


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1 Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out 

2 this paragraph.’’. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 540 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 363 

[Report No. 113–709] 

A BILL 

To expand geothermal production, and for other 

purposes. 

DECEMBER 22, 2014 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS