IB 

Union Calendar No. 459 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3326 

[Report No. 117–636, Part I] 

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

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2021 

Mr. LEVIN of California 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 

DECEMBER 14, 2022 

Additional sponsor: Mr. GRIJALVA

DECEMBER 14, 2022 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 14, 2022 

Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the 

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To promote the development of renewable energy on public 

lands, and for other purposes. 


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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 2021’’. 

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. 

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

statements. 

Sec. 5. Limited grandfathering. 

Sec. 6. Disposition of revenues. 

Sec. 7. Savings. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

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

11 means land that is— 

12 (A) Federal lands administered by the Sec13 retary; and 

14 (B) not excluded from the development of 

15 geothermal, solar, or wind energy under— 

16 (i) a land use plan; or 

17 (ii) other Federal law. 

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

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

20 Bureau of Land Management as not suitable for de21 velopment of renewable energy projects. 


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

2 means— 

3 (A) public lands; and 

4 (B) lands of the National Forest System 

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

6 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 

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

8 (4) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Re9 newable Energy Resource Conservation Fund estab10 lished by section 6(c)(1). 

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

12 plan’’ means— 

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

14 plan established under the Federal Land Policy 

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

16 et seq.); and 

17 (B) in regard to National Forest System 

18 lands, a land management plan approved, 

19 amended, or revised under section 6 of the For20 est and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan21 ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 

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

23 means covered land identified by the land use plan24 ning process of the Bureau of Land Management as 

25 being a preferred location for a renewable energy 


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1 project, including a designated leasing area (as de2 fined in section 2801.5(b) of title 43, Code of Fed3 eral Regulations (or a successor regulation)) that is 

4 identified under the rule of the Bureau of Land 

5 Management entitled ‘‘Competitive Processes, 

6 Terms, and Conditions for Leasing Public Lands for 

7 Solar and Wind Energy Development and Technical 

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

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

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

11 has the meaning given that term in section 103 of 

12 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

13 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 

14 (8) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT.—The term 

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

16 out on covered land that uses wind, solar, or geo17 thermal energy to generate energy. 

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

19 the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

21 area’’ means covered land that is— 

22 (A) not an exclusion area; 

23 (B) not a priority area; and 

24 (C) identified by the Secretary as poten25 tially available for renewable energy developVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326

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1 ment and could be approved without a plan 

2 amendment, consistent with the principles of 

3 multiple use (as defined in the Federal Land 

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

5 1701 et seq.)). 

6 SEC. 4. LAND USE PLANNING; UPDATES TO PRO7 GRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 

8 STATEMENTS. 

9 (a) PRIORITY AREAS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta11 tion with the Secretary of Energy, shall establish 

12 priority areas on covered land for geothermal, solar, 

13 and wind energy projects, consistent with the prin14 ciples of multiple use (as defined in the Federal 

15 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

16 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)) and the renewable energy per17 mitting goal enacted by the Consolidated Appropria18 tions Act of 2021 (Public Law 116–260). Among 

19 applications for a given renewable energy source, 

20 proposed projects located in priority areas for that 

21 renewable energy source shall— 

22 (A) be given the highest priority for 

23 incentivizing deployment thereon; and 


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1 (B) be offered the opportunity to partici2 pate in any regional mitigation plan developed 

3 for the relevant priority areas. 

4 (2) ESTABLISHING PRIORITY AREAS.— 

5 (A) GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.—For geo6 thermal energy, the Secretary shall establish 

7 priority areas as soon as practicable, but not 

8 later than 5 years, after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act. 

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

11 (i) solar designated leasing areas (in12 cluding the solar energy zones established 

13 by Bureau of Land Management Solar En14 ergy Program, established in October 

15 2012), and any subsequent land use plan 

16 amendments, shall be considered to be pri17 ority areas for solar energy projects; and 

18 (ii) the Secretary shall complete a 

19 process to consider establishing additional 

20 solar priority areas as soon as practicable, 

21 but not later than 3 years, after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act. 

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

24 Secretary shall complete a process to consider 

25 establishing additional wind priority areas as 


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

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (b) VARIANCE AREAS.—Variance areas shall be con4 sidered for renewable energy project development, con5 sistent with the principles of multiple use (as defined in 

6 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

7 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)) and the renewable energy per8 mitting goal enacted by the Consolidated Appropriations 

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

10 a given renewable energy source located in those variance 

11 areas shall be timely processed in order to assist in meet12 ing that goal. 

13 (c) REVIEW AND MODIFICATION.— 

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

15 years, the Secretary shall— 

16 (A) review the adequacy of land allocations 

17 for geothermal, solar, and wind energy priority, 

18 exclusion, and variance areas for the purpose of 

19 encouraging and facilitating new renewable en20 ergy development opportunities; and 

21 (B) based on the review carried out under 

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

23 priority, variance, and exclusion areas. 

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

25 apply to the renewable energy land use planning 


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1 published in the Desert Renewable Energy Con2 servation Plan developed by the California Energy 

3 Commission, the California Department of Fish and 

4 Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management, and the 

5 United States Fish and Wildlife Service until Janu6 ary 1, 2030. 

7 (d) COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRON8 MENTAL POLICY ACT.—For purposes of this section, com9 pliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 

10 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be accomplished— 

11 (1) for geothermal energy, by updating the doc12 ument entitled ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental 

13 Impact Statement for Geothermal Leasing in the 

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

15 incorporating any additional regional analyses that 

16 have been completed by Federal agencies since that 

17 programmatic environmental impact statement was 

18 finalized; 

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

20 entitled ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 

21 Statement (PEIS) for Solar Energy Development in 

22 Six Southwestern States’’, dated July 2012, and in23 corporating any additional regional analyses that 

24 have been completed by Federal agencies since that 


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1 programmatic environmental impact statement was 

2 finalized; and 

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

4 entitled ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 

5 Statement on Wind Energy Development on BLM– 

6 Administered Lands in the Western United States’’, 

7 dated July 2005, and incorporating any additional 

8 regional analyses that have been completed by Fed9 eral agencies since the programmatic environmental 

10 impact statement was finalized. 

11 (e) NO EFFECT ON PROCESSING SITE SPECIFIC AP12 PLICATIONS.—Site specific environmental review and 

13 processing of permits for proposed projects shall proceed 

14 during preparation of an updated programmatic environ15 mental impact statement, resource management plan, or 

16 resource management plan amendment. 

17 (f) COORDINATION.—In developing updates required 

18 by this section, the Secretary shall coordinate, on an ongo19 ing basis, with appropriate State, Tribal, and local govern20 ments, transmission infrastructure owners and operators, 

21 developers, and other appropriate entities to ensure that 

22 priority areas identified by the Secretary are— 

23 (1) economically viable (including having access 

24 to existing and planned transmission lines); 


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1 (2) likely to avoid or minimize impacts to habi2 tat for animals and plants, recreation, cultural re3 sources, and other uses of covered land; and 

4 (3) consistent with section 202 of the Federal 

5 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

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

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

8 SEC. 5. LIMITED GRANDFATHERING. 

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

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

11 2801.9(a)(4) of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (as 

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

13 (b) REQUIREMENT TO PAY RENTS AND FEES.—Un14 less otherwise agreed to by the owner of a project, the 

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

16 section 501 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

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

18 2016, shall be obligated to pay with respect to the right19 of-way all rents and fees in effect before the effective date 

20 of the rule of the Bureau of Land Management entitled 

21 ‘‘Competitive Processes, Terms, and Conditions for Leas22 ing Public Lands for Solar and Wind Energy Development 

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

24 92122 (December 19, 2016)). 


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1 SEC. 6. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES. 

2 (a) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.— 

3 (1) AVAILABILITY.—Except as provided in 

4 paragraph (2), beginning on January 1, 2022, of 

5 amounts collected from a wind or solar project as 

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

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

8 the following shall be made available, without fur9 ther appropriation or fiscal year limitation, as fol10 lows: 

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

12 the Secretary of the Treasury to the State with13 in the boundaries of which the revenue is de14 rived. 

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

16 the Secretary of the Treasury to the one or 

17 more counties within the boundaries of which 

18 the revenue is derived, to be allocated among 

19 the counties based on the percentage of land 

20 from which the revenue is derived. 

21 (C) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited 

22 in the Treasury and be made available to the 

23 Secretary to carry out the program established 

24 under this Act, including the transfer of the 

25 funds by the Bureau of Land Management to 

26 other Federal agencies and State agencies to faVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326

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1 cilitate the processing of renewable energy per2 mits on Federal land, with priority given to 

3 using the amounts, to the maximum extent 

4 practicable without detrimental impacts to 

5 emerging markets, to expediting the issuance of 

6 permits required for the development of renew7 able energy projects in the States from which 

8 the revenues are derived. 

9 (D) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited 

10 in the Renewable Energy Resource Conserva11 tion Fund established by subsection (c). 

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

13 apply to the following: 

14 (A) Amounts collected under section 

15 504(g) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage16 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1764(g)). 

17 (B) Amounts deposited into the National 

18 Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration 

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

20 United States Code. 

21 (b) PAYMENTS TO STATES AND COUNTIES.— 

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

23 counties under subsection (a)(1) shall be used con24 sistent with section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act 

25 (30 U.S.C. 191). 


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

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

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

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

5 (c) RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE CONSERVATION

6 FUND.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

8 Treasury a fund to be known as the Renewable En9 ergy Resource Conservation Fund, which shall be 

10 administered by the Secretary, in consultation with 

11 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

12 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may make 

13 amounts in the Fund available to Federal, State, 

14 local, and Tribal agencies to be distributed in re15 gions in which renewable energy projects are located 

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

17 (A) restore and protect— 

18 (i) fish and wildlife habitat for af19 fected species; 

20 (ii) fish and wildlife corridors for af21 fected species; and 

22 (iii) wetlands, streams, rivers, and 

23 other natural water bodies in areas af24 fected by wind, geothermal, or solar energy 

25 development; and 


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1 (B) preserve and improve recreational ac2 cess to Federal land and water in an affected 

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

4 other instrument from willing landowners for 

5 the purpose of enhancing public access to exist6 ing Federal land and water that is inaccessible 

7 or restricted. 

8 (3) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary may enter 

9 into cooperative agreements with State and Tribal 

10 agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other appro11 priate entities to carry out the activities described in 

12 paragraph (2). 

13 (4) INVESTMENT OF FUND.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts deposited in 

15 the Fund shall earn interest in an amount de16 termined by the Secretary of the Treasury on 

17 the basis of the current average market yield on 

18 outstanding marketable obligations of the 

19 United States of comparable maturities. 

20 (B) USE.—Interest earned under subpara21 graph (A) may be expended in accordance with 

22 this subsection. 

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

24 fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

25 the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 


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1 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

2 and Natural Resources of the Senate that includes 

3 a description of— 

4 (A) the amount collected as described in 

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

6 year; 

7 (B) the amount and purpose of payments 

8 during that fiscal year to each Federal, State, 

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

10 and 

11 (C) the amount remaining in the Fund at 

12 the end of the fiscal year. 

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

14 Congress that the revenues deposited and used in 

15 the Fund shall supplement (and not supplant) an16 nual appropriations for activities described in para17 graph (2). 

18 SEC. 7. SAVINGS. 

19 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the 

20 Secretary shall continue to manage public lands under the 

21 principles of multiple use and sustained yield in accord22 ance with title I of the Federal Land Policy and Manage23 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or the Forest 

24 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 

25 1974 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), as applicable, including 


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1 due consideration of mineral and nonrenewable energy-re2 lated projects and other nonrenewable energy uses, for the 

3 purposes of land use planning, permit processing, and con4 ducting environmental reviews. 


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Union Calendar No. 459 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3326 

[Report No. 117–636, Part I] 

A BILL 

To promote the development of renewable energy 

on public lands, and for other purposes. 

DECEMBER 14, 2022 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 14, 2022 

Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the 

Union and ordered to be printed Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 


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