[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3709 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3709

 To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to authorize noncompetitive 
 leasing of certain areas adjoining other lands for which a qualified 
   company or individual holds a pre-existing legal right to develop 
             geothermal resources, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 1, 2009

Mr. Inslee (for himself, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Minnick, and Mr. Blumenauer) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to authorize noncompetitive 
 leasing of certain areas adjoining other lands for which a qualified 
   company or individual holds a pre-existing legal right to develop 
             geothermal resources, 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''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) It is in the best interest of the United States to 
        develop clean renewable geothermal energy.
            (2) Development of such energy should be promoted on 
        appropriate Federal lands.
            (3) Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Bureau of Land 
        Management is authorized to issue three different types of non-
        competitive leases for production of geothermal energy on 
        Federal lands, including non-competitive geothermal leases to 
        mining claim holders that have a valid operating plan, direct 
        use leases, and leases on parcels that do not sell at a 
        competitive auction.
            (4) Federal geothermal energy leasing activity should be 
        directed towards those seeking to develop the land as opposed 
        to those seeking to speculate on geothermal resources and 
        thereby artificially raising the cost of legitimate geothermal 
        energy development.
            (5) Developers of geothermal energy on Federal lands that 
        have invested substantial capital and made high risk 
        investments should be allowed to secure a discovery of 
        geothermal energy resources.
            (6) Successful geothermal development on Federal lands will 
        provide increased revenue to the Federal Government, with the 
        payment of production royalties over decades.

SEC. 3. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF 
              GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES.

    The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 is amended--
            (1) in section 2 (30 U.S.C. 1001)--
                    (A) by striking the period at the end of each of 
                paragraphs (e) and (f) and inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) by striking ``, and'' at the end of paragraph 
                (g) and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraphs:
            ``(h) `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 geothermal steam or 
        geothermal resources as determined through flow or injection 
        testing or measurement of lost circulation while drilling;
            ``(i) `qualified geothermal professional' means an 
        individual who is an engineer or geoscientist in good 
        professional standing with at least five years of experience in 
        geothermal exploration, development, project assessment, or any 
        combination of the forgoing;
            ``(j) the term `qualified lessee' means a person that may 
        hold a geothermal lease under part 3202.10 of title 43, Code of 
        Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enactment of 
        the Geothermal Production Expansion Act; and
            ``(k) `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 sufficient to meet industry 
        standards.''; and
            (2) in section 4(b) (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)), by adding at the 
        end the following:
            ``(4) Adjoining lands.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Areas that adjoin Federal lands 
                for which a qualified lessee holds a legal right to 
                develop geothermal resources may be available for 
                noncompetitive lease under this section to the 
                qualified lessee at the fair market value per acre, 
                if--
                            ``(i) the adjoining areas--
                                    ``(I) consist of an area of not 
                                more than a total of 640 acres;
                                    ``(II) each consist of not less 
                                than one acre;
                                    ``(III) are 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 subclause (I) of clause (iii); 
                        and
                            ``(iii) sufficient geological and other 
                        technical data prepared by a qualified 
                        geothermal professional has been submitted by 
                        the qualified lessee to the relevant Federal 
                        land management agency that would engender a 
                        belief in individuals who are experienced in 
                        the subject matter that--
                                    ``(I) there is a valid discovery of 
                                geothermal steam or geothermal 
                                resources on the lands for which the 
                                qualified lesseeholds the legal right 
                                to develop geothermal resources; and
                                    ``(II) such thermal feature extends 
                                into the adjoining areas.
                    ``(B) Fair market value per acre defined.--As used 
                in this paragraph, the term `fair market value per 
                acre' means a dollar amount per acre that--
                            ``(i) except as provided in this 
                        subparagraph, shall be equal to the market 
                        value per acre, as determined by the Secretary;
                            ``(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 
                        beginning on the date the Secretary receives an 
                        application for the lease;
                            ``(iii) if the Secretary does not determine 
                        the fair market value per acre for a lease 
                        before the end of the period referred to in 
                        clause (ii), shall be $100 per acre (adjusted 
                        by the Secretary for inflation annually 
                        beginning with fiscal year 2011) until the 
                        Secretary establishes such fair market value; 
                        and
                            ``(iv) for any lease for which an 
                        application is received before the end of the 
                        15-year period beginning on the date of the 
                        enactment of this clause, shall not exceed $200 
                        per acre (adjusted by the Secretary for 
                        inflation annually beginning with fiscal year 
                        2011).''.
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