[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1137 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1137

 To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001-1027), and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 24, 1993

 Mr. Williams introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001-1027), 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 ``Old Faithful Protection Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO GEOTHERMAL STEAM ACT.

    The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 and following) is 
amended by adding the following new sections:
    ``Sec. 30. The Congress hereby declares that any use of, or 
production from, any existing geothermal well, or any exploration for, 
or development of, any new geothermal well or any facility related to 
the use of subsurface geothermal resources within the Corwin Springs 
Known Geothermal Resource Area (as designated in the July 22, 1975, 
Federal Register (Fed. Reg. Vol. 40, No. 141)) will result in adverse 
effects on significant thermal features in Yellowstone National Park. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the 
Secretary shall prohibit any use of, or production from, any existing 
geothermal well or any exploration for, or development of, any new 
geothermal well or any facility related to the use of subsurface 
geothermal resources within the Corwin Springs Known Geothermal 
Resource Area, including lands and waters and interests or rights in 
such lands and waters not owned by the United States. For the purposes 
of this section, the term `geothermal well' means a well for geothermal 
steam and associated geothermal resources.
    ``Sec. 31. The Secretary shall not issue any lease under this Act 
for lands within a 15-mile radius of the boundary of Yellowstone 
National Park. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the 
ban or prohibition referenced under section 28(f) and section 30.''.

SEC. 3. MORATORIUM AND STUDY.

    (a) Any use of, or production from, any existing geothermal well, 
or any exploration for, or development of, any new geothermal well or 
any facility related to the use of subsurface geothermal resources is 
prohibited on lands and waters and interests or rights in such lands 
and waters not owned by the United States, within a 15-mile radius of 
the boundary of Yellowstone National Park, except with respect to the 
Island Park Geothermal Area (as designated by the map in the ``Final 
Environmental Impact Statement of the Island Park Geothermal Area'' 
(January 15, 1980, p. XI)), to which such prohibition shall apply to 
lands and waters and interests or rights in such lands and waters not 
owned by the United States within the full extent of such Area, until 
180 days after the receipt by Congress of the study referred to in 
subsection (b). Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect 
the ban or prohibitions referenced under section 28(f), section 30, and 
section 31 of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970.
    (b) The National Park Service, in consultation with the Forest 
Service and the United States Geological Survey, shall conduct a study 
on the impact of potential geothermal development on the thermal 
features of Yellowstone National Park. Such study shall not include the 
area referred to under section 30 of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, 
and shall not include Federal lands within the areas referred to in 
section 28(f) and section 31 of such Act. The study shall be submitted 
to Congress no later than 4 years after the date of enactment of this 
Act.

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