II 

Calendar No. 129 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 363 

[Report No. 113–72] 

To expand geothermal production, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. 

RISCH, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

JULY 15, 2013 

Reported by Mr. WYDEN, without amendment 

A BILL 

To expand geothermal production, 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 of 2013’’. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

2 

•S 363 RS

1 SEC. 2. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS 

2 FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GEOTHERMAL RE3 SOURCES. 

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

5 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(4) ADJOINING LAND.— 

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

9 ‘‘(i) FAIR MARKET VALUE PER

10 ACRE.—The term ‘fair market value per 

11 acre’ means a dollar amount per acre 

12 that— 

13 ‘‘(I) except as provided in this 

14 clause, shall be equal to the market 

15 value per acre (taking into account 

16 the determination under subparagraph 

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

18 the adjoining land) as determined by 

19 the Secretary under regulations issued 

20 under this paragraph; 

21 ‘‘(II) shall be determined by the 

22 Secretary with respect to a lease 

23 under this paragraph, by not later 

24 than the end of the 180-day period 

25 beginning on the date the Secretary 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

3 

•S 363 RS

1 receives an application for the lease; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(III) shall be not less than the 

4 greater of— 

5 ‘‘(aa) 4 times the median 

6 amount paid per acre for all land 

7 leased under this Act during the 

8 preceding year; or 

9 ‘‘(bb) $50. 

10 ‘‘(ii) INDUSTRY STANDARDS.—The 

11 term ‘industry standards’ means the stand12 ards by which a qualified geothermal pro13 fessional assesses whether downhole or 

14 flowing temperature measurements with 

15 indications of permeability are sufficient to 

16 produce energy from geothermal resources, 

17 as determined through flow or injection 

18 testing or measurement of lost circulation 

19 while drilling. 

20 ‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED FEDERAL LAND.— 

21 The term ‘qualified Federal land’ means 

22 land that is otherwise available for leasing 

23 under this Act. 

24 ‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED GEOTHERMAL PRO25 FESSIONAL.—The term ‘qualified geomstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

4 

•S 363 RS

1 thermal professional’ means an individual 

2 who is an engineer or geoscientist in good 

3 professional standing with at least 5 years 

4 of experience in geothermal exploration, 

5 development, or project assessment. 

6 ‘‘(v) QUALIFIED LESSEE.—The term 

7 ‘qualified lessee’ means a person that may 

8 hold a geothermal lease under this Act (in9 cluding applicable regulations). 

10 ‘‘(vi) VALID DISCOVERY.—The term 

11 ‘valid discovery’ means a discovery of a 

12 geothermal resource by a new or existing 

13 slim hole or production well, that exhibits 

14 downhole or flowing temperature measure15 ments with indications of permeability that 

16 are sufficient to meet industry standards. 

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

18 Federal land that adjoins other land for which 

19 a qualified lessee holds a legal right to develop 

20 geothermal resources may be available for a 

21 noncompetitive lease under this section to the 

22 qualified lessee at the fair market value per 

23 acre, if— 

24 ‘‘(i) the area of qualified Federal 

25 land— 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

5 

•S 363 RS

1 ‘‘(I) consists of not less than 1 

2 acre and not more than 640 acres; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(II) is not already leased under 

5 this Act or nominated to be leased 

6 under subsection (a); 

7 ‘‘(ii) the qualified lessee has not pre8 viously received a noncompetitive lease 

9 under this paragraph in connection with 

10 the valid discovery for which data has been 

11 submitted under clause (iii)(I); 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 applicable Fed16 eral land management agency that would 

17 lead individuals who are experienced in the 

18 subject matter to believe that— 

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

20 geothermal resources on the land for 

21 which the qualified lessee holds the 

22 legal right to develop geothermal re23 sources; and 

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

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

6 

•S 363 RS

1 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF FAIR MARKET

2 VALUE.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

4 shall— 

5 ‘‘(I) publish a notice of any re6 quest to lease land under this para7 graph; 

8 ‘‘(II) determine fair market value 

9 for purposes of this paragraph in ac10 cordance with procedures for making 

11 those determinations that are estab12 lished by regulations issued by the 

13 Secretary; 

14 ‘‘(III) provide to a qualified les15 see and publish, with an opportunity 

16 for public comment for a period of 30 

17 days, any proposed determination 

18 under this subparagraph of the fair 

19 market value of an area that the 

20 qualified lessee seeks to lease under 

21 this paragraph; and 

22 ‘‘(IV) provide to the qualified les23 see and any adversely affected party 

24 the opportunity to appeal the final de25 termination of fair market value in an 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

7 

•S 363 RS

1 administrative proceeding before the 

2 applicable Federal land management 

3 agency, in accordance with applicable 

4 law (including regulations). 

5 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON NOMINATION.— 

6 After publication of a notice of request to 

7 lease land under this paragraph, the Sec8 retary may not accept under subsection (a) 

9 any nomination of the land for leasing un10 less the request has been denied or with11 drawn. 

12 ‘‘(iii) ANNUAL RENTAL.—For pur13 poses of section 5(a)(3), a lease awarded 

14 under this paragraph shall be considered a 

15 lease awarded in a competitive lease sale. 

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

17 days after the date of enactment of the Geo18 thermal Production Expansion Act of 2013, the 

19 Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out 

20 this paragraph.’’. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

Calendar No. 129 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 363 

[Report No. 113–72] 

A BILL 

To expand geothermal production, and for other 

purposes. 

JULY 15, 2013 

Reported without amendment 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS