[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 119 (Monday, August 1, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       REINTRODUCTION OF THE GEOTHERMAL PRODUCTION EXPANSION ACT

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                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, August 1, 2011

  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, today, Representative Mike Simpson and I 
reintroduced the bipartisan Geothermal Production Expansion Act, a 
companion to S.1149, introduced by Senators Wyden, Crapo, Risch and 
Merkley. Our bill will ensure that geothermal resources that are near 
federal lands are developed, creating American jobs in rural areas. I 
thank my colleagues for their leadership and working together on this 
important bill.
  As we work to develop American energy resources and become more 
energy independent, it is extremely important that we remove barriers 
to the production of domestic, clean, renewable resources that have 
been discovered and can be financed in the private market. This 
legislation will help remove a significant barrier to deploying 
geothermal energy and creating the accompanying jobs.
  Currently, proven geothermal developers are not producing clean, 
reliable geothermal electricity, despite specific valid geothermal 
discoveries in the west that adjoin federal lands. The Geothermal 
Production Expansion Act would ensure that if a developer has made the 
upfront investments to discover and validate a geothermal resource that 
is adjacent to federal lands, there will be reasonable certainty that 
they will be able to secure a lease for a small parcel of the adjoining 
land necessary to develop and produce geothermal energy. Taxpayers 
would be compensated for the fair market value of the lease, and would 
receive increased royalties for the increased geothermal production.
  Already under EPACT 2005 amendments, the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) is allowed to issue three different non-competitive leases for 
geothermal resources. Our legislation simply creates a fourth category 
whereby the BLM may issue a non-competitive geothermal lease for only 
these qualified companies who hold legal rights to develop geothermal 
leases on certain adjoining lands.
  This legislation would spur immediate economic development in rural 
areas and ensure that developers who have invested substantial capital 
and made high risk investments can secure and develop geothermal 
discoveries. It will also add renewable, domestically produced energy 
resources to the American electricity supply. In the 111th Congress, 
the House Natural Resources committee held a hearing on the Geothermal 
Production Expansion Act, and I offered and passed this legislation as 
an amendment to the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources 
Act of 2010 (H.R. 3534), but unfortunately did not reach the floor of 
the U.S. House of Representatives. I urge Congress to pass this bill 
into law this year.

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