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. 
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 of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) it is in the best interest of the United 
States to develop clean renewable geothermal energy; 
(2) development of that energy should be pro-
moted on appropriate Federal land; and 
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(3) successful geothermal development on Fed-
eral land will provide increased revenue to the Fed-
eral Government, with the payment of production 
royalties over decades. 
SEC. 3. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS 
FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GEOTHERMAL RE-
SOURCES. 
Section 4(b) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 
(30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(4) ADJOINING LAND.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) 
FAIR
MARKET
VALUE
PER 
ACRE.—The term ‘fair market value per 
acre’ means a dollar amount per acre 
that— 
‘‘(I) except as provided in this 
clause, shall be equal to the market 
value per acre as determined by the 
Secretary under regulations issued 
under this paragraph; 
‘‘(II) shall be determined by the 
Secretary with respect to a lease 
under this paragraph, by not later 
than the end of the 90-day period be-
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ginning on the date the Secretary re-
ceives an application for the lease; 
and 
‘‘(III) shall be not less than the 
greater of— 
‘‘(aa) 4 times the median 
amount paid per acre for all land 
leased under this Act during the 
preceding year; or 
‘‘(bb) $50. 
‘‘(ii) 
INDUSTRY
STANDARDS.—The 
term ‘industry standards’ means the stand-
ards by which a qualified geothermal pro-
fessional assesses whether downhole or 
flowing temperature measurements with 
indications of permeability are sufficient to 
produce energy from geothermal resources, 
as determined through flow or injection 
testing or measurement of lost circulation 
while drilling. 
‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED
FEDERAL
LAND.— 
The term ‘qualified Federal land’ means 
land that is otherwise available for leasing 
under this Act. 
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‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED GEOTHERMAL PRO-
FESSIONAL.—The 
term 
‘qualified 
geo-
thermal professional’ means an individual 
who is an engineer or geoscientist in good 
professional standing with at least 5 years 
of experience in geothermal exploration, 
development, or project assessment. 
‘‘(v) QUALIFIED LESSEE.—The term 
‘qualified lessee’ means a person that may 
hold a geothermal lease under this Act (in-
cluding applicable regulations). 
‘‘(vi) VALID
DISCOVERY.—The term 
‘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 measure-
ments with indications of permeability that 
are sufficient to meet industry standards. 
‘‘(B) AUTHORITY.—An area of qualified 
Federal land that adjoins other land for which 
a qualified lessee holds a legal right to develop 
geothermal resources may be available for a 
noncompetitive lease under this section to the 
qualified lessee at the fair market value per 
acre, if— 
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‘‘(i) the area of qualified Federal 
land— 
‘‘(I) consists of not less than 1 
acre and not more than 640 acres; 
and 
‘‘(II) is 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 clause (iii)(I); and 
‘‘(iii) sufficient geological and other 
technical data prepared by a qualified geo-
thermal professional has been submitted by 
the qualified lessee to the applicable Fed-
eral land management agency that would 
lead individuals who are experienced in the 
subject matter to believe that— 
‘‘(I) there is a valid discovery of 
geothermal resources on the land for 
which the qualified lessee holds the 
legal right to develop geothermal re-
sources; and 
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‘‘(II) that thermal feature ex-
tends into the adjoining areas. 
‘‘(C) DETERMINATION
OF
FAIR
MARKET 
VALUE.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(I) publish a notice of any re-
quest to lease land under this para-
graph; 
‘‘(II) determine fair market value 
for purposes of this paragraph in ac-
cordance with procedures for making 
those determinations that are estab-
lished by regulations issued by the 
Secretary; 
‘‘(III) provide to a qualified les-
see and publish, with an opportunity 
for public comment for a period of 30 
days, any proposed determination 
under this subparagraph of the fair 
market value of an area that the 
qualified lessee seeks to lease under 
this paragraph; and 
‘‘(IV) provide to the qualified les-
see and any adversely affected party 
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the opportunity to appeal the final de-
termination of fair market value in an 
administrative proceeding before the 
applicable Federal land management 
agency, in accordance with applicable 
law (including regulations). 
‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON NOMINATION.— 
After publication of a notice of request to 
lease land under this paragraph, the Sec-
retary may not accept under subsection (a) 
any nomination of the land for leasing un-
less the request has been denied or with-
drawn. 
‘‘(iii) ANNUAL
RENTAL.—For pur-
poses of section 5(a)(3), a lease awarded 
under this paragraph shall be considered a 
lease awarded in a competitive lease sale. 
‘‘(D) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of the Geo-
thermal Production Expansion Act of 2011, the 
Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out 
this paragraph.’’. 
Æ 
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