Calendar No. 675
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 1137
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
NOVEMBER 16 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 2), 1993
Received
NOVEMBER 17 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 2), 1993
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
SEPTEMBER 28 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 12), 1994
Reported by Mr. JOHNSTON, with an amendment and an amendment to the
title
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
AN ACT
To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C.
1001–1027), and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Old Faithful Protec-
tion Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) Yellowstone National Park is a unique and
irreplaceable national and international treasure and
part of one of the few remaining undisturbed hydro-
thermal systems in the world;
(2) there is a risk that unrestricted ground-
water use or hydrothermal or geothermal resource
development adjacent to Yellowstone National Park
in the States of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho will
interfere or adversely affect the hydrothermal and
geothermal features of such Park or the manage-
ment of relevant mineral resources;
(3) further research is needed to understand
the characteristics of the protected systems and fea-
tures and the effects of development on such sys-
tems and features on lands outside of Yellowstone
National Park but within the Yellowstone Protection
Area, as such area is defined in this Act;
(4) preservation and protection, free from in-
jury or impairment, of the hydrothermal system as-
sociated with and the features within Yellowstone
National Park is a benefit to the people of the
United States and the world;
(5) cooperation between the United States and
the States of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming to pro-
tect and preserve Yellowstone National Park is de-
sirable; and
(6) as a settlement of litigation concerning
water rights, including the reserved water rights of
the United States associated with units of the Na-
tional Park System in Montana, the Department of
the Interior and the Department of Justice, on be-
half of the United States, and a Compact Commis-
sion, on behalf of the State of Montana, have devel-
oped a Compact that, when ratified by the State and
signed by the Secretary of the Interior and the At-
torney General of the United States, will constitute
such a settlement of litigation concerning matters
within its scope and which, in Article IV, also estab-
lishes a program for regulation of development and
use of groundwater in areas adjacent to Yellowstone
National Park.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to require the Secretary to take the nec-
essary actions to preserve and protect the hydro-
thermal system associated with, and the hydro-
thermal and geothermal features within, Yellowstone
National Park from injury or impairment by protect-
ing the Federal reserved water rights of Yellowstone
National Park;
(2) to provide a framework for management by
the States of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho of reg-
ulated resources outside of but significantly related
to Yellowstone National Park to the extent such
States implement appropriate approved programs for
such management that are adequate to preserve and
protect, free from injury or impairment, the pro-
tected systems and features;
(3) to authorize, as provided in section 8, ap-
proval of Article IV of the Compact as such an ap-
propriate State program; and
(4) to require relevant research.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(2) The term ‘‘Yellowstone Protection Area’’
means the area in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming
identified on the map entitled ‘‘Yellowstone Protec-
tion Area’’, numbered 20036, and dated May 1993,
and any modifications thereof as may be made under
section 7.
(3) The term ‘‘protected systems and features’’
means the hydrothermal and geothermal systems
and hydrothermal and geothermal features associ-
ated with Yellowstone National Park.
(4) The term ‘‘regulated resources’’ means—
(A) geothermal steam and associated geo-
thermal resources, as defined in section 2(c) of
the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C.
1001(c)); and
(B) hydrothermal resources.
(5) The term ‘‘geothermal well’’ means a well
or facility producing or intended to produce regu-
lated resources.
(6) The term ‘‘hydrothermal system’’ means a
groundwater system, including cold water recharge
and transmission and warm and hot water dis-
charge.
(7) The term ‘‘hydrothermal resources’’ means
groundwater with a temperature in excess of 59 de-
grees Fahrenheit and any other groundwater that,
on the basis of research pursuant to section 6, and,
in a State with an approved State program, pursu-
ant to the procedures in such approved State pro-
gram, is determined to have characteristics that in-
dicate it may be directly related to the protected sys-
tems and features.
(8) The term ‘‘approved State program’’ means
a program of Montana, Idaho, or Wyoming that has
been submitted to the Secretary and has been ap-
proved pursuant to this Act.
(9) The term ‘‘Compact’’ means the water
rights compact ratified in 1993 by the State of Mon-
tana through enactment of H.B. 692.
(10) Except as otherwise provided in this Act,
terms used in this Act shall have the same meaning
as in the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970.
SEC. 4. RESTRICTION ON FEDERAL LANDS.
The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001
and following) is amended by adding at the end thereof
the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 30. (a) The Congress hereby declares that—
‘‘(1) Yellowstone National Park possesses nu-
merous hydrothermal and geothermal features, in-
cluding
Old
Faithful
geyser
and
approximately
10,000 other geysers and hot springs, and warrants
designation as a significant thermal feature unto
itself;
‘‘(2) the establishment of the Park in 1872 re-
served to the United States a water right which in-
cludes a right with respect to groundwater (includ-
ing the water in the hydrothermal system supporting