Geothermal Production Expansion Act of 2017
This bill amends the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to allow the Department of the Interior to award noncompetitive leases on up to 640 acres of federal land for geothermal development if: (1) the land is available for leasing and not already leased or nominated to be leased, (2) the lessee has a legal right to develop geothermal resources on land adjacent to the federal land that will be leased, (3) sufficient data was submitted to Interior to show there is a valid discovery of geothermal resources on the adjacent land and that the thermal feature extends into the adjoining federal land, and (4) the lessee has not previously received a noncompetitive lease for the discovery.
Interior must lease the land at fair market value, publish a notice of any lease requests, and provide review of the final determination of fair market value.
Lessees must make annual rental payments equal to those required for lands that are leased competitively.
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4252 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4252
To expand geothermal production, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 3, 2017
Mr. Simpson (for himself 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 Representatives 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 2017''.
SEC. 2. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF
GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES.
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 (taking into account the
determination under subparagraph
(B)(iii) regarding a valid discovery on
the adjoining land) 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 180-day period beginning on
the date the Secretary receives 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 standards by
which a qualified geothermal professional
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.
``(iv) Qualified geothermal professional.--
The term `qualified geothermal 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 (including
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 measurements 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--
``(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
previously 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
geothermal professional has been submitted by
the qualified lessee to the applicable Federal
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
resources; and
``(II) that thermal feature extends
into the adjoining areas.
``(C) Determination of fair market value.--
``(i) In general.--The Secretary shall--
``(I) publish a notice of any
request to lease land under this
paragraph;
``(II) determine fair market value
for purposes of this paragraph in
accordance with procedures for making
those determinations that are
established by regulations issued by
the Secretary;
``(III) provide to a qualified
lessee 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
lessee and any adversely affected party
the opportunity to appeal the final
determination 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 Secretary may
not accept under subsection (a) any nomination
of the land for leasing unless the request has
been denied or withdrawn.
``(iii) Annual rental.--For purposes 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 270 days after
the date of enactment of the Geothermal Production
Expansion Act of 2017, the Secretary shall issue
regulations to carry out this paragraph.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
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