II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 822 

To expand geothermal production, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 19, 2015 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. RISCH, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and 

Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

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 2015’’. 

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: 


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1 ‘‘(4) ADJOINING LAND.— 

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

3 ‘‘(i) FAIR MARKET VALUE PER

4 ACRE.—The term ‘fair market value per 

5 acre’ means a dollar amount per acre 

6 that— 

7 ‘‘(I) except as provided in this 

8 clause, shall be equal to the market 

9 value per acre (taking into account 

10 the determination under subparagraph 

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

12 the adjoining land) as determined by 

13 the Secretary under regulations issued 

14 under this paragraph; 

15 ‘‘(II) shall be determined by the 

16 Secretary with respect to a lease 

17 under this paragraph, by not later 

18 than the end of the 180-day period 

19 beginning on the date the Secretary 

20 receives an application for the lease; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(III) shall be not less than the 

23 greater of— 

24 ‘‘(aa) 4 times the median 

25 amount paid per acre for all land 


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1 leased under this Act during the 

2 preceding year; or 

3 ‘‘(bb) $50. 

4 ‘‘(ii) INDUSTRY STANDARDS.—The 

5 term ‘industry standards’ means the stand6 ards by which a qualified geothermal pro7 fessional assesses whether downhole or 

8 flowing temperature measurements with 

9 indications of permeability are sufficient to 

10 produce energy from geothermal resources, 

11 as determined through flow or injection 

12 testing or measurement of lost circulation 

13 while drilling. 

14 ‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED FEDERAL LAND.— 

15 The term ‘qualified Federal land’ means 

16 land that is otherwise available for leasing 

17 under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED GEOTHERMAL PRO19 FESSIONAL.—The term ‘qualified geo20 thermal professional’ means an individual 

21 who is an engineer or geoscientist in good 

22 professional standing with at least 5 years 

23 of experience in geothermal exploration, 

24 development, or project assessment. 


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1 ‘‘(v) QUALIFIED LESSEE.—The term 

2 ‘qualified lessee’ means a person that may 

3 hold a geothermal lease under this Act (in4 cluding applicable regulations). 

5 ‘‘(vi) VALID DISCOVERY.—The term 

6 ‘valid discovery’ means a discovery of a 

7 geothermal resource by a new or existing 

8 slim hole or production well, that exhibits 

9 downhole or flowing temperature measure10 ments with indications of permeability that 

11 are sufficient to meet industry standards. 

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

13 Federal land that adjoins other land for which 

14 a qualified lessee holds a legal right to develop 

15 geothermal resources may be available for a 

16 noncompetitive lease under this section to the 

17 qualified lessee at the fair market value per 

18 acre, if— 

19 ‘‘(i) the area of qualified Federal 

20 land— 

21 ‘‘(I) consists of not less than 1 

22 acre and not more than 640 acres; 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) is not already leased under 

2 this Act or nominated to be leased 

3 under subsection (a); 

4 ‘‘(ii) the qualified lessee has not pre5 viously received a noncompetitive lease 

6 under this paragraph in connection with 

7 the valid discovery for which data has been 

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

9 ‘‘(iii) sufficient geological and other 

10 technical data prepared by a qualified geo11 thermal professional has been submitted by 

12 the qualified lessee to the applicable Fed13 eral land management agency that would 

14 lead individuals who are experienced in the 

15 subject matter to believe that— 

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

17 geothermal resources on the land for 

18 which the qualified lessee holds the 

19 legal right to develop geothermal re20 sources; and 

21 ‘‘(II) that thermal feature ex22 tends into the adjoining areas. 

23 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF FAIR MARKET

24 VALUE.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(I) publish a notice of any re4 quest to lease land under this para5 graph; 

6 ‘‘(II) determine fair market value 

7 for purposes of this paragraph in ac8 cordance with procedures for making 

9 those determinations that are estab10 lished by regulations issued by the 

11 Secretary; 

12 ‘‘(III) provide to a qualified les13 see and publish, with an opportunity 

14 for public comment for a period of 30 

15 days, any proposed determination 

16 under this subparagraph of the fair 

17 market value of an area that the 

18 qualified lessee seeks to lease under 

19 this paragraph; and 

20 ‘‘(IV) provide to the qualified les21 see and any adversely affected party 

22 the opportunity to appeal the final de23 termination of fair market value in an 

24 administrative proceeding before the 

25 applicable Federal land management 


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1 agency, in accordance with applicable 

2 law (including regulations). 

3 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON NOMINATION.— 

4 After publication of a notice of request to 

5 lease land under this paragraph, the Sec6 retary may not accept under subsection (a) 

7 any nomination of the land for leasing un8 less the request has been denied or with9 drawn. 

10 ‘‘(iii) ANNUAL RENTAL.—For pur11 poses of section 5(a)(3), a lease awarded 

12 under this paragraph shall be considered a 

13 lease awarded in a competitive lease sale. 

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

15 days after the date of enactment of the Geo16 thermal Production Expansion Act of 2015, the 

17 Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out 

18 this paragraph.’’. 

Æ 


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