I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 178 

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

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. LEVIN 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 

A BILL 

To promote the development of renewable energy on public 

lands, 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 ‘‘Public Land Renew5 able Energy Development Act of 2023’’. 

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. 


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

statements. 

Sec. 5. Limited grandfathering. 

Sec. 6. Disposition of revenues. 

Sec. 7. Savings. 

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

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

4 means land that is— 

5 (A) Federal lands administered by the Sec6 retary; and 

7 (B) not excluded from the development of 

8 geothermal, solar, or wind energy under— 

9 (i) a land use plan; or 

10 (ii) other Federal law. 

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

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

13 Bureau of Land Management as not suitable for de14 velopment of renewable energy projects. 

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

16 means— 

17 (A) public lands; and 

18 (B) lands of the National Forest System 

19 as described in section 11(a) of the Forest and 

20 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 

21 of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 


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1 (4) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Re2 newable Energy Resource Conservation Fund estab3 lished by section 6(c)(1). 

4 (5) LAND USE PLAN.—The term ‘‘land use 

5 plan’’ means— 

6 (A) in regard to Federal land, a land use 

7 plan established under the Federal Land Policy 

8 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 

9 et seq.); and 

10 (B) in regard to National Forest System 

11 lands, a land management plan approved, 

12 amended, or revised under section 6 of the For13 est and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan14 ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 

15 (6) PRIORITY AREA.—The term ‘‘priority area’’ 

16 means covered land identified by the land use plan17 ning process of the Bureau of Land Management as 

18 being a preferred location for a renewable energy 

19 project, including a designated leasing area (as de20 fined in section 2801.5(b) of title 43, Code of Fed21 eral Regulations (or a successor regulation)) that is 

22 identified under the rule of the Bureau of Land 

23 Management entitled ‘‘Competitive Processes, 

24 Terms, and Conditions for Leasing Public Lands for 

25 Solar and Wind Energy Development and Technical 


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1 Changes and Corrections’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 92122 

2 (December 19, 2016)) (or a successor regulation). 

3 (7) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 

4 has the meaning given that term in section 103 of 

5 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

6 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 

7 (8) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT.—The term 

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

9 out on covered land that uses wind, solar, or geo10 thermal energy to generate energy. 

11 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of the Interior. 

13 (10) VARIANCE AREA.—The term ‘‘variance 

14 area’’ means covered land that is— 

15 (A) not an exclusion area; 

16 (B) not a priority area; and 

17 (C) identified by the Secretary as poten18 tially available for renewable energy develop19 ment and could be approved without a plan 

20 amendment, consistent with the principles of 

21 multiple use (as defined in the Federal Land 

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

23 1701 et seq.)). 


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

3 STATEMENTS. 

4 (a) PRIORITY AREAS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta6 tion with the Secretary of Energy, shall establish 

7 priority areas on covered land for geothermal, solar, 

8 and wind energy projects, consistent with the prin9 ciples of multiple use (as defined in the Federal 

10 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

11 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)) and the renewable energy per12 mitting goal enacted by the Consolidated Appropria13 tions Act of 2021 (Public Law 116–260). Among 

14 applications for a given renewable energy source, 

15 proposed projects located in priority areas for that 

16 renewable energy source shall— 

17 (A) be given the highest priority for 

18 incentivizing deployment thereon; and 

19 (B) be offered the opportunity to partici20 pate in any regional mitigation plan developed 

21 for the relevant priority areas. 

22 (2) ESTABLISHING PRIORITY AREAS.— 

23 (A) GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.—For geo24 thermal energy, the Secretary shall establish 

25 priority areas as soon as practicable, but not 


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1 later than 5 years, after the date of the enact2 ment of this Act. 

3 (B) SOLAR ENERGY.—For solar energy— 

4 (i) solar designated leasing areas (in5 cluding the solar energy zones established 

6 by Bureau of Land Management Solar En7 ergy Program, established in October 

8 2012), and any subsequent land use plan 

9 amendments, shall be considered to be pri10 ority areas for solar energy projects; and 

11 (ii) the Secretary shall complete a 

12 process to consider establishing additional 

13 solar priority areas as soon as practicable, 

14 but not later than 3 years, after the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act. 

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

17 Secretary shall complete a process to consider 

18 establishing additional wind priority areas as 

19 soon as practicable, but not later than 3 years, 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 (b) VARIANCE AREAS.—Variance areas shall be con22 sidered for renewable energy project development, con23 sistent with the principles of multiple use (as defined in 

24 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

25 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)) and the renewable energy perVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178

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1 mitting goal enacted by the Consolidated Appropriations 

2 Act of 2021 (Public Law 116–260), and applications for 

3 a given renewable energy source located in those variance 

4 areas shall be timely processed in order to assist in meet5 ing that goal. 

6 (c) REVIEW AND MODIFICATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less than once every 10 

8 years, the Secretary shall— 

9 (A) review the adequacy of land allocations 

10 for geothermal, solar, and wind energy priority, 

11 exclusion, and variance areas for the purpose of 

12 encouraging and facilitating new renewable en13 ergy development opportunities; and 

14 (B) based on the review carried out under 

15 subparagraph (A), add, modify, or eliminate 

16 priority, variance, and exclusion areas. 

17 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

18 apply to the renewable energy land use planning 

19 published in the Desert Renewable Energy Con20 servation Plan developed by the California Energy 

21 Commission, the California Department of Fish and 

22 Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management, and the 

23 United States Fish and Wildlife Service until Janu24 ary 1, 2030. 


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1 (d) COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRON2 MENTAL POLICY ACT.—For purposes of this section, com3 pliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 

4 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be accomplished— 

5 (1) for geothermal energy, by updating the doc6 ument entitled ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental 

7 Impact Statement for Geothermal Leasing in the 

8 Western United States’’, dated October 2008, and 

9 incorporating any additional regional analyses that 

10 have been completed by Federal agencies since that 

11 programmatic environmental impact statement was 

12 finalized; 

13 (2) for solar energy, by updating the document 

14 entitled ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 

15 Statement (PEIS) for Solar Energy Development in 

16 Six Southwestern States’’, dated July 2012, and in17 corporating any additional regional analyses that 

18 have been completed by Federal agencies since that 

19 programmatic environmental impact statement was 

20 finalized; and 

21 (3) for wind energy, by updating the document 

22 entitled ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 

23 Statement on Wind Energy Development on BLM– 

24 Administered Lands in the Western United States’’, 

25 dated July 2005, and incorporating any additional 


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1 regional analyses that have been completed by Fed2 eral agencies since the programmatic environmental 

3 impact statement was finalized. 

4 (e) NO EFFECT ON PROCESSING SITE SPECIFIC AP5 PLICATIONS.—Site specific environmental review and 

6 processing of permits for proposed projects shall proceed 

7 during preparation of an updated programmatic environ8 mental impact statement, resource management plan, or 

9 resource management plan amendment. 

10 (f) COORDINATION.—In developing updates required 

11 by this section, the Secretary shall coordinate, on an ongo12 ing basis, with appropriate State, Tribal, and local govern13 ments, transmission infrastructure owners and operators, 

14 developers, and other appropriate entities to ensure that 

15 priority areas identified by the Secretary are— 

16 (1) economically viable (including having access 

17 to existing and planned transmission lines); 

18 (2) likely to avoid or minimize impacts to habi19 tat for animals and plants, recreation, cultural re20 sources, and other uses of covered land; and 

21 (3) consistent with section 202 of the Federal 

22 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

23 U.S.C. 1712), including subsection (c)(9) of that 

24 section (43 U.S.C. 1712(c)(9)). 


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1 SEC. 5. LIMITED GRANDFATHERING. 

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

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

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

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

6 (b) REQUIREMENT TO PAY RENTS AND FEES.—Un7 less otherwise agreed to by the owner of a project, the 

8 owner of a project that applied for a right-of-way under 

9 section 501 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

10 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) on or before December 19, 

11 2016, shall be obligated to pay with respect to the right12 of-way all rents and fees in effect before the effective date 

13 of the rule of the Bureau of Land Management entitled 

14 ‘‘Competitive Processes, Terms, and Conditions for Leas15 ing Public Lands for Solar and Wind Energy Development 

16 and Technical Changes and Corrections’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 

17 92122 (December 19, 2016)). 

18 SEC. 6. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES. 

19 (a) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.— 

20 (1) AVAILABILITY.—Except as provided in 

21 paragraph (2), beginning on January 1, 2024, of 

22 amounts collected from a wind or solar project as 

23 bonus bids, rentals, fees, or other payments under a 

24 right-of-way, permit, lease, or other authorization 

25 the following shall be made available, without furVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178

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1 ther appropriation or fiscal year limitation, as fol2 lows: 

3 (A) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by 

4 the Secretary of the Treasury to the State with5 in the boundaries of which the revenue is de6 rived. 

7 (B) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by 

8 the Secretary of the Treasury to the one or 

9 more counties within the boundaries of which 

10 the revenue is derived, to be allocated among 

11 the counties based on the percentage of land 

12 from which the revenue is derived. 

13 (C) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited 

14 in the Treasury and be made available to the 

15 Secretary to carry out the program established 

16 under this Act, including the transfer of the 

17 funds by the Bureau of Land Management to 

18 other Federal agencies and State agencies to fa19 cilitate the processing of renewable energy per20 mits on Federal land, with priority given to 

21 using the amounts, to the maximum extent 

22 practicable without detrimental impacts to 

23 emerging markets, to expediting the issuance of 

24 permits required for the development of renewVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178

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1 able energy projects in the States from which 

2 the revenues are derived. 

3 (D) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited 

4 in the Renewable Energy Resource Conserva5 tion Fund established by subsection (c). 

6 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

7 apply to the following: 

8 (A) Amounts collected under section 

9 504(g) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage10 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1764(g)). 

11 (B) Amounts deposited into the National 

12 Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration 

13 Fund under section 200402(b) of title 54, 

14 United States Code. 

15 (b) PAYMENTS TO STATES AND COUNTIES.— 

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

17 counties under subsection (a)(1) shall be used con18 sistent with section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act 

19 (30 U.S.C. 191). 

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

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

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

23 under chapter 69 of title 31, United States Code. 

24 (c) RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE CONSERVATION

25 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 

4 administered by the Secretary, in consultation with 

5 the 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 re9 gions in which renewable energy projects are located 

10 on Federal land. Such amounts may be used to— 

11 (A) restore and protect— 

12 (i) fish and wildlife habitat for af13 fected 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 af18 fected by wind, geothermal, or solar energy 

19 development; and 

20 (B) preserve and improve recreational ac21 cess to Federal land and water in an affected 

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

23 other instrument from willing landowners for 

24 the purpose of enhancing public access to existVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178

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1 ing Federal land and water that is inaccessible 

2 or restricted. 

3 (3) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary may enter 

4 into cooperative agreements with State and Tribal 

5 agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other appro6 priate entities to carry out the activities described in 

7 paragraph (2). 

8 (4) INVESTMENT OF FUND.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts deposited in 

10 the Fund shall earn interest in an amount de11 termined by the Secretary of the Treasury on 

12 the basis of the current average market yield on 

13 outstanding marketable obligations of the 

14 United States of comparable maturities. 

15 (B) USE.—Interest earned under subpara16 graph (A) may be expended in accordance with 

17 this subsection. 

18 (5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—At the end of each 

19 fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

20 the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

21 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

22 and Natural Resources of the Senate that includes 

23 a description of— 


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1 (A) the amount collected as described in 

2 subsection (a), by source, during that fiscal 

3 year; 

4 (B) the amount and purpose of payments 

5 during that fiscal year to each Federal, State, 

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

7 and 

8 (C) the amount remaining in the Fund at 

9 the end of the fiscal year. 

10 (6) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—It is the intent of 

11 Congress that the revenues deposited and used in 

12 the Fund shall supplement (and not supplant) an13 nual appropriations for activities described in para14 graph (2). 

15 SEC. 7. SAVINGS. 

16 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the 

17 Secretary shall continue to manage public lands under the 

18 principles of multiple use and sustained yield in accord19 ance with title I of the Federal Land Policy and Manage20 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or the Forest 

21 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 

22 1974 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), as applicable, including 

23 due consideration of mineral and nonrenewable energy-re24 lated projects and other nonrenewable energy uses, for the 


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1 purposes of land use planning, permit processing, and con2 ducting environmental reviews. 

Æ 


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