142 
Congress on feasible incentives to foster recovery of 
unconventional fuels by private industry within the 
United States. Such incentives may include, but are 
not limited to, long-term contracts for the purchase 
of unconventional fuels for defense purposes, Fed-
eral grants and loan guarantees for necessary capital 
expenditures, and favorable terms for the leasing of 
Government lands containing unconventional re-
sources. 
(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
(A) STRATEGIC
UNCONVENTIONAL
RE-
SOURCES.—The term ‘‘strategic unconventional 
resources’’ means hydrocarbon resources, in-
cluding heavy oil, shale, tar sands, and coal de-
posits, from which liquid fuels may be pro-
duced. 
(B) IN SITU EXTRACTION METHODS.—The 
term ‘‘in situ extraction methods’’ means recov-
ery techniques that are applied to the resources 
while they are still in the ground, and are in 
commercial use or advanced stages of develop-
ment. Such techniques include, but are not lim-
ited to, steam flooding, steam-assisted gravity 
drainage (including combination with electric 
power generation where appropriate), cyclic 
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143 
steam stimulation, air injection, and chemical 
treatment. 
(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection for each of fiscal years 2009 through 
2016 not less than $35,000,000. Each pilot project 
shall be allocated not less than $4,000,000 per year 
in each of fiscal years 2009 through 2016. 
(e) SUPPORT OF GEOTHERMAL AND GEOPRESSURE 
OIL AND GAS ENERGY PRODUCTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior shall carry out a grant program in support of 
geothermal and geopressure oil and gas energy pro-
duction. The program shall include grants for a total 
of not less than three assessments of the use of in-
novative geothermal techniques such as organic 
rankine cycle systems at marginal, unproductive, 
and productive oil and gas wells, and not less than 
one assessment of the use of innovative geopressure 
techniques. The Secretary shall, to the extent prac-
ticable and in the public interest, make awards 
that— 
(A) include not less than five oil or gas 
well sites per project award; 
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144 
(B) use a range of oil or gas well hot water 
source temperatures from 150 degrees Fahr-
enheit to 300 degrees Fahrenheit; 
(C) use existing or new oil or gas wells; 
(D) cover a range of sizes from 175 kilo-
watts to one megawatt; 
(E) are located at a range of sites includ-
ing tribal lands, Federal lease, State, or pri-
vately owned sites; 
(F) can be replicated at a wide range of 
sites; 
(G) facilitate identification of optimum 
techniques among competing alternatives; 
(H) include business commercialization 
plans that have the potential for production of 
equipment at high volumes and operation and 
support at a large number of sites; and 
(I) satisfy other criteria that the Secretary 
determines are necessary to carry out the pro-
gram. 
The Secretary shall give preference to assessments 
that address multiple elements contained in subpara-
graphs (A) through (I). 
(2) GRANT AWARDS.— 
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145 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Each grant award for 
assessment 
of 
innovative 
geothermal 
or 
geopressure technology such as organic rankine 
cycle systems at oil and gas wells made by the 
Secretary under this section shall include— 
(i) necessary and appropriate site en-
gineering study; 
(ii) detailed economic assessment of 
site specific conditions; 
(iii) appropriate feasibility studies to 
determine ability for replication; 
(iv) design or adaptation of existing 
technology for site specific circumstances 
or conditions; 
(v) installation of equipment, service, 
and support; and 
(vi) monitoring for a minimum of one 
year after commissioning date. 
(3) COMPETITIVE GRANT SELECTION.—Not less 
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall conduct a national solic-
itation for applications for grants under the pro-
gram. Grant recipients shall be selected on a com-
petitive basis based on criteria in subsection (b). 
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146 
(4) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 
costs of grants under this subsection shall be pro-
vided from funds made available to carry out this 
section. The Federal share of the cost of a project 
carried out with such a grant shall not exceed 50 
percent of such cost. 
(5) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection for each of fiscal years 2007 through 
2011 not less than $5,000,000. No funds authorized 
under this section may be used for the purposes of 
drilling new wells. 
(6) AMENDMENT.—Section 4 of the Geothermal 
Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) 
GEOTHERMAL
RESOURCES
CO-PRODUCED 
WITH THE MINERALS.—Any person who holds a lease or 
who operates a cooperative or unit plan under the Mineral 
Leasing Act, in the absence of an existing lease for geo-
thermal resources under this Act, shall upon notice to the 
Secretary have the right to utilize any geothermal re-
sources co-produced with the minerals for which the lease 
was issued during the operation of that lease or coopera-
tive or unit plan, for the generating of electricity to oper-
ate the lease. Any electricity that is produced in excess 
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147 
of that which is required to operate the lease and that 
is sold for purposes outside of the boundary of the lease 
shall be subject to the requirements of section 5.’’. 
(f) LIQUID FUELS GRANT PROGRAM.— 
(1) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of the Interior 
shall establish a grant program for facilities for coal- 
to-liquids, petroleum coke-to-liquids, oil shale, tar 
sands, heavy oil, and Alaska natural gas-to-liquids 
and to assess the production of low-rank coal water 
fuel (in this subsection referred to as ‘‘LRCWF’’). 
(2) LRCWF.—The LRCWF grant project loca-
tion shall use lignite coal and shall be allocated 
$15,000,000. 
(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
(A) COAL-TO-LIQUIDS
FRONT-END
ENGI-
NEERING AND DESIGN.—The terms ‘‘coal-to-liq-
uids front-end engineering and design’’ and 
‘‘FEED’’ mean those expenditures necessary to 
engineer, design, and obtain permits for a facil-
ity for a particular geographic location which 
will utilize a process or technique to produce 
liquid fuels from coal resources. 
(B) LOW-RANK
COAL
WATER
FUEL.—In 
this subsection the term ‘‘low-rank coal water 
fuel’’ means a liquid fuel produced from hydro-
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148 
thermal treatment of lignite and sub-bituminous 
coals. 
(4) GRANT PROVISIONS.—All grants shall re-
quire a 50 percent non-Federal cost share. The first 
4 FEED grant recipients who receive full project 
construction financing commitments, based on ear-
liest calendar date, shall not be required to repay 
any of their grants. The next 4 FEED grant recipi-
ents who receive such commitments shall be required 
to repay 25 percent of the grant. The next 4 FEED 
grant recipients who receive such commitments shall 
be required to repay 50 percent of the grant, and 
the remaining FEED grant recipients shall be re-
quired to repay 75 percent of the grant. Any re-
quired repayment shall be paid as part of the closing 
process for any construction financing relating to 
the grant. No repayment shall require the payment 
of interest if repaid within 5 years of the issuance 
of the grant. FEED grants shall be limited to a 
maximum of $500,000 per 1,000 barrels per day of 
liquid fuels production capacity. 
(5) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2009 through 2016. 
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149 
(g) RENEWABLE ENERGY FROM OCEAN WAVE, CUR-
RENT, AND THERMAL RESOURCES.— 
(1) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of the Interior 
shall establish a grant program for the production of 
renewable energy from ocean waves, tides, currents, 
and thermal resources. 
(2) GRANT PROVISIONS.—All grants under this 
subsection shall require a 50 percent non-Federal 
cost share. 
(3) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection funds for each of fiscal years 2009 
through 2016 in the amount of not less than 
$20,000,000 each year, and thereafter in such 
amounts as the Secretary may find appropriate. 
(h) AMENDMENT TO THE SURFACE MINING CON-
TROL AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 1977.—Section 507 of 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 
(30 U.S.C. 1267) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(i) Any person who provides the regulatory authority 
with a map under subsection (b)(13) or (b)(14) shall not 
be liable to any other person in any way for the accuracy 
or completeness of any such map which was not prepared 
and certified by or on behalf of such person.’’. 
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150 
(i) AMENDMENT TO THE ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 
2005.—Section 357 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
U.S.C. 15912) is amended by redesignating subsection (b) 
as subsection (c), and inserting the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) There is authorized to be appropriated for the 
Secretary to contract for use of the 3–D seismic tech-
nology referenced in (a)(2) the amount of $50,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2009 through 2016.’’. 
SEC. 164. LEASES FOR AREAS LOCATED WITHIN 100 MILES 
OF CALIFORNIA OR FLORIDA. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION TO CANCEL AND EXCHANGE 
CERTAIN EXISTING OIL AND GAS LEASES; PROHIBITION 
ON SUBMITTAL OF EXPLORATION PLANS FOR CERTAIN 
LEASES PRIOR TO JUNE 30, 2012.— 
(1) AUTHORITY.—Within 2 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the lessee of an existing oil 
and gas lease for an area located completely within 
100 miles of the coastline within the California or 
Florida Adjacent Zones shall have the option, with-
out compensation, of exchanging such lease for a 
new oil and gas lease having a primary term of 5 
years. For the area subject to the new lease, the les-
see may select any unleased tract on the outer Con-
tinental Shelf that is in an area available for leasing. 
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151 
Further, with the permission of the relevant Gov-
ernor, such a lessee may convert its existing oil and 
gas lease into a natural gas lease having a primary 
term of 5 years and covering the same area as the 
existing lease or another area within the same 
State’s Adjacent Zone within 100 miles of the coast-
line. 
(2) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.—The Secretary 
of the Interior shall establish a reasonable adminis-
trative process to implement paragraph (1). Ex-
changes and conversions under subsection (a), in-
cluding the issuance of new leases, shall not be con-
sidered to be major Federal actions for purposes of 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Further, such actions con-
ducted in accordance with this section are deemed to 
be in compliance all provisions of the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). 
(3) OPERATING
RESTRICTIONS.—A new lease 
issued in exchange for an existing lease under this 
section shall be subject to such national defense op-
erating stipulations on the OCS tract covered by the 
new lease as may be applicable upon issuance. 
(4) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri-
ority in the lease exchange process based on the 
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158 
‘‘(D) INVESTMENT OF DEPOSITS.—The de-
posits in the Treasury account established 
under this section shall be invested by the Sec-
retary of the Treasury in securities backed by 
the full faith and credit of the United States 
having maturities suitable to the needs of the 
account and yielding the highest reasonably 
available interest rates as determined by the 
Secretary of the Treasury. 
‘‘(E) USE
OF
FUNDS.—A recipient of 
funds under this subsection may use the funds 
for any lawful purpose as determined by State 
law. Funds allocated under this subsection to 
States and local political subdivisions may be 
used as matching funds for other Federal pro-
grams without limitation. Funds allocated to 
local political subdivisions under this subsection 
may not be used in calculation of payments to 
such local political subdivisions under programs 
for payments in lieu of taxes or other similar 
programs. 
‘‘(F) NO ACCOUNTING REQUIRED.—No re-
cipient of funds under this subsection shall be 
required to account to the Federal Government 
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