[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 24 (Thursday, February 14, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S784-S785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Begich, Mr. Crapo, 
        Mr. Risch, and Mr. Merkley):
  S. 363. A bill to expand geothermal production, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Geothermal 
Expansion Production Act of 2013. This legislation is the same as a 
bill reported favorably by voice vote by the Senate Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources during the 112th Congress. This bill has bi-
partisan support, with Senators Murkowski, Begich, Crapo, Risch, and 
Merkley, joining me as original cosponsors. The legislation will help 
to encourage the production of geothermal energy from public lands.
  With limited exceptions, current law requires that all Federal lands 
to be leased for the development of geothermal resources be offered on 
a competitive basis. BLM must hold a competitive lease sale every 2 
years. If bids are not received for the lands offered, BLM must offer 
the lands on a noncompetitive basis for 2 years.
  This legislation extends the authority for noncompetitive leasing in 
cases where a geothermal developer wants to gain access to Federal land 
immediately adjacent to land on which that developer has proven that 
there is a geothermal resource that will be developed. This will allow 
a geothermal project to expand onto adjacent land, if necessary, to 
increase the amount of geothermal energy it can develop. It will also 
add to the royalties and rents that the project pays to the U.S. 
Treasury.
  The reason for this legislation is to allow the rapid expansion of 
already identified geothermal resources without the additional delays 
of competitive leasing and without opening up those adjacent properties 
to speculative bidders who have no interest in actually developing the 
resource, only in extracting as much money as they can from the 
existing geothermal developer.
  The bill is not a give away at taxpayer expense. The bill limits the 
amount of adjacent Federal land that can be leased to 640 acres. This 
lease on Federal land must be acquired at fair-market value. The bill 
also requires the lease holder to pay the higher annual rental rate 
associated with competitive leases even though this new parcel is not 
being competitively leased. Again, the purpose of this higher rental 
rate is to ensure that taxpayers will get the revenue due to them from 
the use of their public lands.
  I hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting this important 
legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record as follows:

                                 S. 363

       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 2013''.

     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

[[Page S785]]

     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 
     2013, the Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out this 
     paragraph.''.
                                 ______