I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 178 
To promote the development of renewable energy on public lands, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 9, 2023 
Mr. LEVIN 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 
A BILL 
To promote the development of renewable energy on public 
lands, 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 ‘‘Public Land Renew-
able Energy Development Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
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Sec. 4. Land use planning; updates to programmatic environmental impact 
statements. 
Sec. 5. Limited grandfathering. 
Sec. 6. Disposition of revenues. 
Sec. 7. Savings. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 
means land that is— 
(A) Federal lands administered by the Sec-
retary; and 
(B) not excluded from the development of 
geothermal, solar, or wind energy under— 
(i) a land use plan; or 
(ii) other Federal law. 
(2) EXCLUSION
AREA.—The term ‘‘exclusion 
area’’ means covered land that is identified by the 
Bureau of Land Management as not suitable for de-
velopment of renewable energy projects. 
(3) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 
means— 
(A) public lands; and 
(B) lands of the National Forest System 
as described in section 11(a) of the Forest and 
Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 
of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 
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(4) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Re-
newable Energy Resource Conservation Fund estab-
lished by section 6(c)(1). 
(5) LAND
USE
PLAN.—The term ‘‘land use 
plan’’ means— 
(A) in regard to Federal land, a land use 
plan established under the Federal Land Policy 
and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 
et seq.); and 
(B) in regard to National Forest System 
lands, a land management plan approved, 
amended, or revised under section 6 of the For-
est and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan-
ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 
(6) PRIORITY AREA.—The term ‘‘priority area’’ 
means covered land identified by the land use plan-
ning process of the Bureau of Land Management as 
being a preferred location for a renewable energy 
project, including a designated leasing area (as de-
fined in section 2801.5(b) of title 43, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations (or a successor regulation)) that is 
identified under the rule of the Bureau of Land 
Management 
entitled 
‘‘Competitive 
Processes, 
Terms, and Conditions for Leasing Public Lands for 
Solar and Wind Energy Development and Technical 
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Changes and Corrections’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 92122 
(December 19, 2016)) (or a successor regulation). 
(7) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 
has the meaning given that term in section 103 of 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 
(8) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT.—The term 
‘‘renewable energy project’’ means a project carried 
out on covered land that uses wind, solar, or geo-
thermal energy to generate energy. 
(9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(10) VARIANCE
AREA.—The term ‘‘variance 
area’’ means covered land that is— 
(A) not an exclusion area; 
(B) not a priority area; and 
(C) identified by the Secretary as poten-
tially available for renewable energy develop-
ment and could be approved without a plan 
amendment, consistent with the principles of 
multiple use (as defined in the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1701 et seq.)). 
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