II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 562 

To promote exploration for geothermal resources, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2015 

Mr. HELLER (for himself and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To promote exploration for 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 ‘‘Geothermal Explo5 ration Opportunities Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GEOTHERMAL EXPLORATION TEST PROJECTS. 

7 The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 

8 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 30. GEOTHERMAL EXPLORATION TEST PROJECTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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

2 means land that is— 

3 ‘‘(A)(i) public land administered by the 

4 Secretary; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) National Forest System land adminis6 tered by the Secretary of Agriculture; and 

7 ‘‘(B) not excluded from the development of 

8 geothermal energy under— 

9 ‘‘(i) a final land use plan established 

10 under the Federal Land Policy and Man11 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et 

12 seq.); 

13 ‘‘(ii) a final land and resource man14 agement plan established under the Na15 tional Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 

16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); or 

17 ‘‘(iii) any other applicable law. 

18 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘Sec19 retary concerned’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Agriculture (acting 

21 through the Chief of the Forest Service), with 

22 respect to National Forest System land; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the Secretary, with respect to land 

24 managed by the Bureau of Land Management 


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1 (including land held for the benefit of an Indian 

2 tribe). 

3 ‘‘(b) NEPA REVIEW OF GEOTHERMAL EXPLORATION

4 TEST PROJECTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible activity de6 scribed in paragraph (2) carried out on covered land 

7 shall be considered an action categorically excluded 

8 from the requirements for an environmental assess9 ment or an environmental impact statement under 

10 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

11 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or section 1508.4 of title 40, 

12 Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regula13 tion) if— 

14 ‘‘(A) the action is for the purpose of geo15 thermal resource exploration operations; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the action is conducted pursuant to 

17 this Act. 

18 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.—An eligible activity 

19 referred to in paragraph (1) is— 

20 ‘‘(A) a geophysical exploration activity that 

21 does not require drilling, including a seismic 

22 survey; 

23 ‘‘(B) the drilling of a well to test or ex24 plore for geothermal resources on land leased 


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1 by the Secretary concerned for the development 

2 and production of geothermal resources that— 

3 ‘‘(i) is carried out by the holder of the 

4 lease; 

5 ‘‘(ii) causes— 

6 ‘‘(I) fewer than 5 acres of soil or 

7 vegetation disruption at the location 

8 of each geothermal exploration well; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) not more than an additional 

11 5 acres of soil or vegetation disruption 

12 during access or egress to the project 

13 site; 

14 ‘‘(iii) is completed in fewer than 90 

15 days, including the removal of any surface 

16 infrastructure from the project site; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) requires the restoration of the 

18 project site not later than 3 years after the 

19 date of completion of the project to ap20 proximately the condition that existed at 

21 the time the project began, unless— 

22 ‘‘(I) the project site is subse23 quently used as part of energy devel24 opment on the lease; or 

25 ‘‘(II) the project— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) yields geothermal re2 sources; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) the use of the geo4 thermal resources will be carried 

5 out under another geothermal 

6 generation project in existence at 

7 the time of the discovery of the 

8 geothermal resources; or 

9 ‘‘(C) the drilling of a well to test or explore 

10 for geothermal resources on land leased by the 

11 Secretary concerned for the development and 

12 production of geothermal resources that— 

13 ‘‘(i) causes an individual surface dis14 turbance of fewer than 5 acres if— 

15 ‘‘(I) the total surface disturbance 

16 on the leased land is not more than 

17 150 acres; and 

18 ‘‘(II) a site-specific analysis has 

19 been prepared under the National En20 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

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

22 ‘‘(ii) involves the drilling of a geo23 thermal well at a location or well pad site 

24 at which drilling has occurred within 5 


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1 years before the date of spudding the well; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(iii) involves the drilling of a geo4 thermal well in a developed field for 

5 which— 

6 ‘‘(I) an approved land use plan 

7 or any environmental document pre8 pared under the National Environ9 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

10 4321 et seq.) analyzed the drilling as 

11 a reasonably foreseeable activity; and 

12 ‘‘(II) the land use plan or envi13 ronmental document was approved 

14 within 10 years before the date of 

15 spudding the well. 

16 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION BASED ON EXTRAORDINARY

17 CIRCUMSTANCES.—The categorical exclusion estab18 lished under paragraph (1) shall be subject to ex19 traordinary circumstances in accordance with the 

20 Departmental Manual, 516 DM 2.3A(3) and 516 

21 DM 2, Appendix 2 (or successor provisions). 

22 ‘‘(c) NOTICE OF INTENT; REVIEW AND DETERMINA23 TION.— 

24 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE NOTICE.—Not 

25 later than 30 days before the date on which drilling 


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1 begins, a leaseholder intending to carry out an eligi2 ble activity shall provide notice to the Secretary con3 cerned. 

4 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF PROJECT.—Not later than 10 

5 days after receipt of a notice of intent provided 

6 under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned 

7 shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) review the project described in the 

9 notice and determine whether the project is an 

10 eligible activity; and 

11 ‘‘(B)(i) if the project is an eligible activity, 

12 notify the leaseholder that under subsection (b), 

13 the project is considered a categorical exclusion 

14 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

15 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and section 

16 1508.4 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations 

17 (or a successor regulation); or 

18 ‘‘(ii) if the project is not an eligible activ19 ity— 

20 ‘‘(I) notify the leaseholder that section 

21 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 

22 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) 

23 applies to the project; 

24 ‘‘(II) include in that notification clear 

25 and detailed findings on any deficiencies in 


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1 the project that prevent the application of 

2 subsection (b) to the project; and 

3 ‘‘(III) provide an opportunity to the 

4 leaseholder to remedy the deficiencies de5 scribed in the notification before the date 

6 on which the leaseholder plans to begin the 

7 project under paragraph (1).’’. 

Æ 


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