I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3709 
To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to authorize noncompetitive 
leasing of certain areas adjoining other lands for which a qualified 
company or individual holds a pre-existing legal right to develop geo-
thermal resources, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 1, 2009 
Mr. INSLEE (for himself, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. MINNICK, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to authorize 
noncompetitive leasing of certain areas adjoining other 
lands for which a qualified company or individual holds 
a pre-existing legal right to develop geothermal resources, 
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 ‘‘Geothermal Production 
Expansion Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) It is in the best interest of the United 
States to develop clean renewable geothermal energy. 
(2) Development of such energy should be pro-
moted on appropriate Federal lands. 
(3) Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the 
Bureau of Land Management is authorized to issue 
three different types of non-competitive leases for 
production of geothermal energy on Federal lands, 
including non-competitive geothermal leases to min-
ing claim holders that have a valid operating plan, 
direct use leases, and leases on parcels that do not 
sell at a competitive auction. 
(4) Federal geothermal energy leasing activity 
should be directed towards those seeking to develop 
the land as opposed to those seeking to speculate on 
geothermal resources and thereby artificially raising 
the cost of legitimate geothermal energy develop-
ment. 
(5) Developers of geothermal energy on Federal 
lands that have invested substantial capital and 
made high risk investments should be allowed to se-
cure a discovery of geothermal energy resources. 
(6) Successful geothermal development on Fed-
eral lands will provide increased revenue to the Fed-
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eral Government, with the payment of production 
royalties over decades. 
SEC. 3. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS 
FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GEOTHERMAL RE-
SOURCES. 
The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 is amended— 
(1) in section 2 (30 U.S.C. 1001)— 
(A) by striking the period at the end of 
each of paragraphs (e) and (f) and inserting a 
semicolon; 
(B) by striking ‘‘, and’’ at the end of para-
graph (g) and inserting a semicolon; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(h) ‘industry standards’ means the standards 
by which a qualified geothermal professional assesses 
whether downhole or flowing temperature measure-
ments with indications of permeability are sufficient 
to produce geothermal steam or geothermal re-
sources as determined through flow or injection test-
ing or measurement of lost circulation while drilling; 
‘‘(i) ‘qualified geothermal professional’ means 
an individual who is an engineer or geoscientist in 
good professional standing with at least five years of 
experience in geothermal exploration, development, 
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project assessment, or any combination of the for-
going; 
‘‘(j) the term ‘qualified lessee’ means a person 
that may hold a geothermal lease under part 
3202.10 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, as 
in effect on the date of enactment of the Geothermal 
Production Expansion Act; and 
‘‘(k) ‘valid discovery’ means a discovery of a 
geothermal resource by a new or existing slim hole 
or production well, that exhibits downhole or flowing 
temperature measurements with indications of per-
meability sufficient to meet industry standards.’’; 
and 
(2) in section 4(b) (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)), by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) ADJOINING LANDS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Areas that adjoin 
Federal lands for which a qualified lessee holds 
a legal right to develop geothermal resources 
may be available for noncompetitive lease under 
this section to the qualified lessee at the fair 
market value per acre, if— 
‘‘(i) the adjoining areas— 
‘‘(I) consist of an area of not 
more than a total of 640 acres; 
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‘‘(II) each consist of not less 
than one acre; 
‘‘(III) are not already leased 
under this Act or nominated to be 
leased under subsection (a); 
‘‘(ii) the qualified lessee has not pre-
viously received a noncompetitive lease 
under this paragraph in connection with 
the valid discovery for which data has been 
submitted under subclause (I) of clause 
(iii); and 
‘‘(iii) sufficient geological and other 
technical data prepared by a qualified geo-
thermal professional has been submitted by 
the qualified lessee to the relevant Federal 
land management agency that would en-
gender a belief in individuals who are expe-
rienced in the subject matter that— 
‘‘(I) there is a valid discovery of 
geothermal steam or geothermal re-
sources on the lands for which the 
qualified lesseeholds the legal right to 
develop geothermal resources; and 
‘‘(II) such thermal feature ex-
tends into the adjoining areas. 
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‘‘(B) FAIR MARKET VALUE PER ACRE DE-
FINED.—As used in this paragraph, the term 
‘fair market value per acre’ means a dollar 
amount per acre that— 
‘‘(i) except as provided in this sub-
paragraph, shall be equal to the market 
value per acre, as determined by the Sec-
retary; 
‘‘(ii) shall be determined by the Sec-
retary with respect to a lease under this 
paragraph, by not later than the end of the 
90-day period beginning on the date the 
Secretary receives an application for the 
lease; 
‘‘(iii) if the Secretary does not deter-
mine the fair market value per acre for a 
lease before the end of the period referred 
to in clause (ii), shall be $100 per acre 
(adjusted by the Secretary for inflation an-
nually beginning with fiscal year 2011) 
until the Secretary establishes such fair 
market value; and 
‘‘(iv) for any lease for which an appli-
cation is received before the end of the 15- 
year period beginning on the date of the 
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enactment of this clause, shall not exceed 
$200 per acre (adjusted by the Secretary 
for inflation annually beginning with fiscal 
year 2011).’’. 
Æ 
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