[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8954 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8954

To promote the development of renewable energy on public lands, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2024

  Mr. Gosar 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Land Renewable Energy 
Development Act of 2024''.

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.
Sec. 4. Limited grandfathering.
Sec. 5. Disposition of revenues.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Covered land.--The term ``covered land'' means land 
        that is--
                    (A) Federal land administered by the Secretary; 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) 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)).
            (3) Fund.--The term ``Fund'' means the Renewable Energy 
        Resource Conservation Fund established by section 5(c)(1).
            (4) Renewable energy project.--The term ``renewable energy 
        project'' means a project carried out on covered land that uses 
        wind, solar, or geothermal energy to generate energy.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 4. LIMITED GRANDFATHERING.

    (a) Definition of Project.--In this section, the term ``project'' 
means a system described in section 2801.9(a)(4) of title 43, Code of 
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act).
    (b) Requirement To Pay Rents and Fees.--Unless otherwise agreed to 
by the owner of a project, the owner of a project that applied for a 
right-of-way under section 501 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) on or before December 19, 2016, 
shall be obligated to pay with respect to the right-of-way all rents 
and fees in effect before the effective date of 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 Changes and Corrections'' (81 Fed. Reg. 92122 
(December 19, 2016)).

SEC. 5. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.

    (a) Disposition of Revenues.--
            (1) Availability.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
        beginning on January 1, 2025, of amounts collected from a wind 
        or solar project as bonus bids, rentals, fees, or other 
        payments under a right-of-way, permit, lease, or other 
        authorization the following shall be made available, without 
        further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, as follows:
                    (A) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by the 
                Secretary of the Treasury to the State within the 
                boundaries of which the revenue is derived.
                    (B) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by the 
                Secretary of the Treasury to the one or more counties 
                within the boundaries of which the revenue is derived, 
                to be allocated among the counties based on the 
                percentage of land from which the revenue is derived.
                    (C) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited in the 
                Treasury and be made available to the Secretary to 
                carry out the program established under this Act, 
                including the transfer of the funds by the Bureau of 
                Land Management to other Federal agencies and State 
                agencies to facilitate the processing of renewable 
                energy permits on Federal land, with priority given to 
                using the amounts, to the maximum extent practicable 
                without detrimental impacts to emerging markets, to 
                expediting the issuance of permits required for the 
                development of renewable energy projects in the States 
                from which the revenues are derived.
                    (D) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited in the 
                Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund established 
                by subsection (c).
            (2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the 
        following:
                    (A) Amounts collected under section 504(g) of the 
                Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
                U.S.C. 1764(g)).
                    (B) Amounts deposited into the National Parks and 
                Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund under section 
                200402(b) of title 54, United States Code.
    (b) Payments to States and Counties.--
            (1) In general.--Amounts paid to States and counties under 
        subsection (a)(1) shall be used consistent with section 35 of 
        the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191).
            (2) Payments in lieu of taxes.--A payment to a county under 
        paragraph (1) shall be in addition to a payment in lieu of 
        taxes received by the county under chapter 69 of title 31, 
        United States Code.
    (c) Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund.--
            (1) In general.--There is established in the Treasury a 
        fund to be known as the Renewable Energy Resource Conservation 
        Fund, which shall be administered by the Secretary, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture.
            (2) Use of funds.--The Secretary may make amounts in the 
        Fund available to Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies to 
        be distributed in regions in which renewable energy projects 
        are located on Federal land. Such amounts may be used to--
                    (A) restore and protect--
                            (i) fish and wildlife habitat for affected 
                        species;
                            (ii) fish and wildlife corridors for 
                        affected species; and
                            (iii) wetlands, streams, rivers, and other 
                        natural water bodies in areas affected by wind, 
                        geothermal, or solar energy development; and
                    (B) preserve and improve recreational access to 
                Federal land and water in an affected region through an 
                easement, right-of-way, or other instrument from 
                willing landowners for the purpose of enhancing public 
                access to existing Federal land and water that is 
                inaccessible or restricted.
            (3) Partnerships.--The Secretary may enter into cooperative 
        agreements with State and Tribal agencies, nonprofit 
        organizations, and other appropriate entities to carry out the 
        activities described in paragraph (2).
            (4) Investment of fund.--
                    (A) In general.--Amounts deposited in the Fund 
                shall earn interest in an amount determined by the 
                Secretary of the Treasury on the basis of the current 
                average market yield on outstanding marketable 
                obligations of the United States of comparable 
                maturities.
                    (B) Use.--Interest earned under subparagraph (A) 
                may be expended in accordance with this subsection.
            (5) Report to congress.--At the end of each fiscal year, 
        the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Natural 
        Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate that includes a 
        description of--
                    (A) the amount collected as described in subsection 
                (a), by source, during that fiscal year;
                    (B) the amount and purpose of payments during that 
                fiscal year to each Federal, State, local, and Tribal 
                agency under paragraph (2); and
                    (C) the amount remaining in the Fund at the end of 
                the fiscal year.
            (6) Intent of congress.--It is the intent of Congress that 
        the revenues deposited and used in the Fund shall supplement 
        (and not supplant) annual appropriations for activities 
        described in paragraph (2).
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