I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2776 

To expand geothermal production, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2011 

Mr. SIMPSON (for himself, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. WALDEN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and 

Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on 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 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) it is in the best interest of the United 

9 States to develop clean renewable geothermal energy; 

10 (2) development of that energy should be pro11 moted on appropriate Federal land; and 


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1 (3) successful geothermal development on Fed2 eral land will provide increased revenue to the Fed3 eral Government, with the payment of production 

4 royalties over decades. 

5 SEC. 3. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS 

6 FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GEOTHERMAL RE7 SOURCES. 

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

9 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(4) ADJOINING LAND.— 

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

13 ‘‘(i) FAIR MARKET VALUE PER

14 ACRE.—The term ‘fair market value per 

15 acre’ means a dollar amount per acre 

16 that— 

17 ‘‘(I) except as provided in this 

18 clause, shall be equal to the market 

19 value per acre as determined by the 

20 Secretary under regulations issued 

21 under this paragraph; 

22 ‘‘(II) shall be determined by the 

23 Secretary with respect to a lease 

24 under this paragraph, by not later 

25 than the end of the 90-day period beVerDate Mar 15 2010 18:24 Aug 03, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2776.IH H2776

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1 ginning on the date the Secretary re2 ceives an application for the lease; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(III) shall be not less than the 

5 greater of— 

6 ‘‘(aa) 4 times the median 

7 amount paid per acre for all land 

8 leased under this Act during the 

9 preceding year; or 

10 ‘‘(bb) $50. 

11 ‘‘(ii) INDUSTRY STANDARDS.—The 

12 term ‘industry standards’ means the stand13 ards by which a qualified geothermal pro14 fessional assesses whether downhole or 

15 flowing temperature measurements with 

16 indications of permeability are sufficient to 

17 produce energy from geothermal resources, 

18 as determined through flow or injection 

19 testing or measurement of lost circulation 

20 while drilling. 

21 ‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED FEDERAL LAND.— 

22 The term ‘qualified Federal land’ means 

23 land that is otherwise available for leasing 

24 under this Act. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED GEOTHERMAL PRO2 FESSIONAL.—The term ‘qualified geo3 thermal professional’ means an individual 

4 who is an engineer or geoscientist in good 

5 professional standing with at least 5 years 

6 of experience in geothermal exploration, 

7 development, or project assessment. 

8 ‘‘(v) QUALIFIED LESSEE.—The term 

9 ‘qualified lessee’ means a person that may 

10 hold a geothermal lease under this Act (in11 cluding applicable regulations). 

12 ‘‘(vi) VALID DISCOVERY.—The term 

13 ‘valid discovery’ means a discovery of a 

14 geothermal resource by a new or existing 

15 slim hole or production well, that exhibits 

16 downhole or flowing temperature measure17 ments with indications of permeability that 

18 are sufficient to meet industry standards. 

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

20 Federal land that adjoins other land for which 

21 a qualified lessee holds a legal right to develop 

22 geothermal resources may be available for a 

23 noncompetitive lease under this section to the 

24 qualified lessee at the fair market value per 

25 acre, if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the area of qualified Federal 

2 land— 

3 ‘‘(I) consists of not less than 1 

4 acre and not more than 640 acres; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(II) is not already leased under 

7 this Act or nominated to be leased 

8 under subsection (a); 

9 ‘‘(ii) the qualified lessee has not pre10 viously received a noncompetitive lease 

11 under this paragraph in connection with 

12 the valid discovery for which data has been 

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

14 ‘‘(iii) sufficient geological and other 

15 technical data prepared by a qualified geo16 thermal professional has been submitted by 

17 the qualified lessee to the applicable Fed18 eral land management agency that would 

19 lead individuals who are experienced in the 

20 subject matter to believe that— 

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

22 geothermal resources on the land for 

23 which the qualified lessee holds the 

24 legal right to develop geothermal re25 sources; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) that thermal feature ex2 tends into the adjoining areas. 

3 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF FAIR MARKET

4 VALUE.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

6 shall— 

7 ‘‘(I) publish a notice of any re8 quest to lease land under this para9 graph; 

10 ‘‘(II) determine fair market value 

11 for purposes of this paragraph in ac12 cordance with procedures for making 

13 those determinations that are estab14 lished by regulations issued by the 

15 Secretary; 

16 ‘‘(III) provide to a qualified les17 see and publish, with an opportunity 

18 for public comment for a period of 30 

19 days, any proposed determination 

20 under this subparagraph of the fair 

21 market value of an area that the 

22 qualified lessee seeks to lease under 

23 this paragraph; and 

24 ‘‘(IV) provide to the qualified les25 see and any adversely affected party 


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1 the opportunity to appeal the final de2 termination of fair market value in an 

3 administrative proceeding before the 

4 applicable Federal land management 

5 agency, in accordance with applicable 

6 law (including regulations). 

7 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON NOMINATION.— 

8 After publication of a notice of request to 

9 lease land under this paragraph, the Sec10 retary may not accept under subsection (a) 

11 any nomination of the land for leasing un12 less the request has been denied or with13 drawn. 

14 ‘‘(iii) ANNUAL RENTAL.—For pur15 poses of section 5(a)(3), a lease awarded 

16 under this paragraph shall be considered a 

17 lease awarded in a competitive lease sale. 

18 ‘‘(D) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 

19 days after the date of enactment of the Geo20 thermal Production Expansion Act of 2011, the 

21 Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out 

22 this paragraph.’’. 

Æ 


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