[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 822 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 822

        To expand geothermal production, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 19, 2015

Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Risch, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Murkowski, and Mr. 
Crapo) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
            to the Committee on Energy and 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 2015''.

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 2015, the Secretary shall issue 
                regulations to carry out this paragraph.''.
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