[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 171 (Tuesday, November 19, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H6089-H6094]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMMITTING LEASES FOR ENERGY ACCESS NOW ACT
General Leave
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and insert extraneous material on H.R. 1449.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Molinaro). Is there objection to the
request of the gentleman from Arkansas?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1576 and rule
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 1449.
The Chair appoints the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota) to
preside over the Committee of the Whole.
{time} 1409
In the Committee of the Whole
Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill
(H.R. 1449) to amend the Geothermal Steam Act of
[[Page H6090]]
1970 to increase the frequency of lease sales, to require replacement
sales, and for other purposes, with Mr. LaLota in the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the
first time.
General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed 1
hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of the Committee on Natural Resources or their respective
designees.
The gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) and the gentlewoman from
New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 1449, the Committing
Leases for Energy Access Now Act, or the CLEAN Act.
First, I thank my friend and colleague Representative Russ Fulcher
for being a leader on geothermal energy and for his dedication to this
issue.
Geothermal energy is poised to be an important part of America's
energy portfolio. Some predictions indicate that geothermal energy can
provide up to 90 gigawatts of electricity by 2050. These are great
metrics and goals to strive for, but we will never reach this goal if
we keep the status quo for permitting and leasing geothermal energy.
Current law requires multiple layers of environmental review for
geothermal projects, which leads to higher costs and longer development
timelines compared to our power production efforts.
H.R. 1449, the CLEAN Act, would streamline the Federal leasing and
permitting process for geothermal energy and spur the development of
this renewable energy source in the United States.
California is a prime example of a Western State with huge geothermal
potential, but a lease sale has not been held by the DOI in that State
since 2016.
H.R. 1449 would fix lapses like this by requiring the Secretary of
the Interior to hold annual geothermal lease sales rather than once
every 2 years. It will also force the Secretary to hold a replacement
lease sale if one is missed.
In addition, this bill requires the Secretary of the Interior to
notify an applicant whether or not its geothermal drilling permit
application is complete within 30 days of receiving the application. If
Interior determines that the application is complete, then it must
issue a final decision on the applications within 30 days.
Some may argue that these deadlines are too fast and don't allow
adequate time for the bureaucracy to complete reviews under the
National Environmental Policy Act and other environmental laws, but
this simply is not the case.
The bill itself does not waive the agency's responsibilities under
current environmental laws. We all know from experience that agencies
will not issue permits until they meet the necessary legal
requirements.
The potential for geothermal energy in this country cannot be
understated. There are myriad hot spots in the West that are prime for
developing this kind of energy. We must do all we can to ensure that
bureaucratic red tape does not hamper this resource moving forward.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chair, I am happy to be here once again on another set of energy
bills and amendments. While I certainly support the goal of this bill
to deploy more clean, renewable geothermal energy on our public lands,
unfortunately I and other members of our Caucus are unable to support
this bill in its current form and urge opposition to the bill.
{time} 1415
Throughout this Congress, geothermal energy has been a bright spot of
bipartisanship. Geothermal is an extremely promising and growing source
of sustainable and reliable renewable energy.
We have heard from geothermal developers that there can be challenges
to permitting new plants and new facilities, so we understand the
intent of this bill. That is why our committee has worked on a
bipartisan basis to get to solutions that will help support the
industry and deploy more renewable energy.
I am grateful to my colleagues who have taken up this issue, bills
like the Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act from Ranking Member
Ocasio-Cortez, the GEO Act from Representative Curtis, and H.R. 6474
from Representative Steel and others.
I was pleased to see these responsible permitting solutions pass the
House, and I hope to see Senate action on them soon and continued
bipartisan work.
Unfortunately, this bill is not in a place where we can offer
bipartisan support.
H.R. 1449, the CLEAN Act, does contain some important provisions that
we would be supportive of, but it also contains some serious technical
flaws that could create major constraints and unintended consequences
for geothermal projects.
First, the bill mandates that more geothermal lease sales happen.
Democrats, in general, support this. We want to see additional
geothermal facilities and the use of our Federal resources where
appropriate to do that. We would love to see more resources offered
through our agencies so that they can actually do this work, but we
will take it as it is.
Next, however, the bill says that the Department of the Interior must
notify an applicant for a geothermal drilling permit as to whether the
application is complete within 30 days. When the Department of the
Interior testified on the bill, they recommended increasing the
timeline to 90 days to provide sufficient time for the limited
situations where staffing, project size, or complexity would prevent an
office from complying. For example, let's say an office is understaffed
at the moment.
We offered this change in committee and again today are offering it
on the House floor. Ranking Member Grijalva's amendment would change
the first deadline from 30 days to 90 days, an easy fix. We are willing
to negotiate on the exact number, but unfortunately, we have not had
willing partners in that negotiation. They are continuing to insist on
a timeline that is not workable for our Federal Government.
Next, and most problematically, the bill would require that the
Department of the Interior make a final decision on a permit, either
approving or denying it, within 30 days of the application being
complete. The Department has called this essentially impossible to
achieve. Issuing a decision within 30 days would not allow adequate
time to complete the analysis required under the National Environmental
Policy Act, or NEPA. There are other permits from other agencies, like
Fish and Wildlife, EPA, and Tribal consultation that must occur before
a permit can be issued.
In the best case scenario, this bill would result in uncoordinated,
rushed approvals where the Department and our communities barely
understand the potential environmental and cultural impacts required by
law, which would result in lawsuits and delay projects even further.
In a worst case scenario, good, worthy projects could get denied
simply because an agency doesn't have sufficient staffing and time to
comply with the deadline in the bill.
All the possible scenarios here are just a bad deal for geothermal
developers and a bad deal for Americans who would like to see clean
energy deployed responsibly, effectively, and quickly. To solve this,
we filed several amendments at markup for consideration on the floor to
provide necessary flexibility and time to complete the reviews and
prevent avoidable denials, but unfortunately, those were not taken up
at the committee level.
I will also point out that the House passed a bill along these lines
by voice vote earlier this year. The GEO Act from Representative Curtis
of Utah addresses similar permitting concerns but directs the
Department to issue a decision on a permit within 60 days of the
completion of the review under NEPA and other laws. That is a
Republican-led bill that the agency believes they can work with, so we
have a possibility of a path forward.
[[Page H6091]]
Even in the Senate, we have a Manchin-Barrasso bipartisan permitting
bill that would adopt similar language to make a more workable
timeline, which is similar to the amendment offered by Ranking Member
Grijalva today.
We hope that our colleagues across the aisle will come to the
negotiating table if this bill does move forward. It is important that
we fix these timelines. I understand that we are trying to expedite and
improve the deployment and permitting of these projects, but we have to
make sure that they are workable from a practical standpoint within our
communities and agencies.
We want positive outcomes, clean energy, and geothermal. This is a
bipartisan issue. We can do this. Let's come to the table and get
something done that we can all support. Unfortunately, today, I have to
urge opposition to this bill.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Idaho (Mr. Fulcher), who is the author of the bill.
Mr. FULCHER. Mr. Chair, I thank the good chairman from Arkansas for
his leadership on this issue.
Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of my bill, H.R. 1449, the
Committing Leases for Energy Access Now Act, or the CLEAN Act.
To begin developing geothermal resources on Federal land, developers
must first obtain a lease. While there is significant potential in this
resource, 90 percent or thereabouts of the Nation's viable geothermal
resources are located on Federal land. It makes lease sales crucial to
the expansion of this energy source.
On the map behind me, Mr. Chair, you can tell just some of the
regions where this resource is available, and it is vast. However, the
time and costs associated with multiple environmental reviews, as well
as the overall leasing and permitting processes, result in development
schedules longer than many other power production projects.
The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 currently requires the Secretary of
the Interior to hold ``a competitive lease sale at least once every 2
years for land in a State that has nominations pending.'' However, this
timeline is not always adhered to. As the chairman mentioned before me,
some States, like California, have not held a competitive geothermal
lease sale since 2016. If any State needs to be doing more proactive
work for clean baseload, it would be our friends in California.
This legislation, H.R. 1449, amends the Geothermal Steam Act to
require annual lease sales, instead of once every 2 years, for
geothermal energy exploration on Federal land. Prioritizing geothermal
exploration on Federal land will increase certainty for domestic
companies looking to explore for geothermal resources while still
requiring a full environmental assessment if the resources prove
exploitable.
In addition, this bill requires the Department of the Interior to
notify an applicant whether or not their application for a geothermal
drilling permit is complete within 30 days of receiving the
application.
I noticed my good friend across the aisle mentioned the resource
concern for the Department of the Interior. There are some 70,000
employees in the Department of the Interior. If some need to be
redirected, I am sure that can be accommodated.
If the Department of the Interior determines that an application is
complete, then it must issue a final decision on the application within
30 days of the date the Department of the Interior sent the
notification.
Securing American energy independence should be a top priority for
Congress, and geothermal is a renewable, clean power source that can
help us accomplish that goal.
Idaho already plays a leading role in geothermal energy production.
It is critical that we leverage every available resource to ensure
that our Nation is self-sufficient and resilient in meeting its energy
needs. Geothermal is a proven, clean, and efficient means to provide
reliable baseload power.
Geothermal energy is one of the most promising and underutilized
energy sources in the United States and has the potential to provide
consistent power available 24/7, 365 days a year. The Department of the
Interior projects that U.S. geothermal capacity could increase from the
current 16 gigawatts to 38 gigawatts by 2035 and 90 gigawatts by 2050.
By expanding access to geothermal resources, we can increase energy
production, create jobs, and reduce our dependence on foreign energy
sources, which are oftentimes not friendly to the United States.
By ensuring geothermal lease sales are held annually, we can provide
more certainty for energy developers, reduce delays in the development
process, and create good-paying jobs, all while helping to meet our
energy goals and reduce our dependence on foreign energy.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this important
legislation, and I look forward to working with each of my colleagues
to advance reliable domestic energy for all Americans.
Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chair, I want to respond to one comment that was just made about
the employees of the Department of the Interior.
For many folks who are not familiar with the Department of the
Interior, I will note that there have been people in history who have
called it the department of everything because it manages our public
lands, water resources and reservoirs, wildlife through the Fish and
Wildlife Service, and mineral leasing. It does our geologic surveys. It
manages and provides programs and responsibilities to our Tribal
nations. The reason why there are 70,000 employees in the Department of
the Interior is because they work across all of those bureaus and
missions.
The reality is, if you have ever had to work with the Federal
Government, Mr. Chair, is that many of these kinds of decisions are
made at the most local level in a field office in the Bureau of Land
Management, which is the agency responsible for permitting at the most
local level. Oftentimes, the agencies find themselves with staff
vacancies, a lack of resources, or they have multiple permits come
across the desk of a local resource manager.
To expect somebody who is working in a field office, potentially in a
rural or remote area of the United States, to process a sophisticated
permit and all the related interagency and interbureau coordination and
Tribal consultation required in 30 days is just not realistic. While I
appreciate the assertion, that is just not how it works.
Let's be reasonable. We all want the same outcome. Let's not create a
law that just results in lawsuits and difficulties for our Federal
agencies so that we can move on and get this done.
Mr. Chair, I appreciate the debate. Democrats are strong proponents
of geothermal energy and support the intent of this bill. This
technology is critical for the clean energy transition, jobs, and
replacing other kinds of energy.
We want to see responsible development in relation to our public
lands. To make that goal a reality, Democrats have supported bipartisan
legislation that increases efficiency in permitting processes and other
legislation that gets at the same challenges that this bill is trying
to address without taking away the necessary environmental and
community input.
Unfortunately, there are technical aspects of this bill, including
the timelines, that are just not realistic.
In addition to those arbitrary timelines that would undercut
community voices and potential protections in sensitive places, this
would make projects themselves more vulnerable to delays should
lawsuits happen or there are shoddy reviews or a lack of outside input.
I want us to be good bipartisan partners to all of you in this work,
but we really do have to come up with some commonsense fixes.
Mr. Chair, as I mentioned just a few moments ago, I hope that we can
work together to resolve those technical issues. I ask my colleagues to
vote ``no'' on the bill as it is currently drafted, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, in closing, I again urge my colleagues to vote in
support of H.R. 1449.
As has been said, geothermal energy in the U.S. has potential to
generate 90
[[Page H6092]]
gigawatts of power. To put that in perspective, that would be like 150
to 200 large power-producing plants.
It is energy, electricity, coming from non-carbon-emitting sources
and from a renewable resource.
This should be a no-brainer for both sides of the aisle as we face
challenges with as much as an increased rate of three times per year
more electricity demand than what we have seen in the past. We know we
need energy from anywhere we can get it in greater volumes than we have
had before.
Just this last week, we passed a bill that would streamline the
permitting process for geothermal plants on State and private lands.
This bill is another commonsense solution that will help bring our
lagging geothermal industry online.
It is time we build more geothermal plants to reach our full
geothermal potential in this country and unleash America's energy
resources for our citizens and allies around the world.
It is imperative that we increase the rate of leasing geothermal
plants so that American citizens can enjoy the low-cost, reliable, and
renewable energy that comes from these plants.
Again, Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.R.
1449, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The CHAIR. All time for general debate has expired.
Pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment
under the 5-minute rule.
The bill is considered as read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1449
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 ``Committing Leases for Energy
Access Now Act'' or the ``CLEAN Act''.
SEC. 2. GEOTHERMAL LEASING.
(a) Annual Leasing.--Section 4(b) of the Geothermal Steam
Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``2 years'' and inserting
``year'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs
(5) and (6), respectively; and
(3) after paragraph (2), by inserting the following:
``(3) Replacement sales.--If a lease sale under paragraph
(1) for a year is canceled or delayed, the Secretary of the
Interior shall conduct a replacement sale during the same
year.
``(4) Requirement.--In conducting a lease sale under
paragraph (2) in a State described in that paragraph, the
Secretary of the Interior shall offer all nominated parcels
eligible for geothermal development and utilization under the
resource management plan in effect for the State.''.
(b) Deadlines for Consideration of Geothermal Drilling
Permits.--Section 4 of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30
U.S.C. 1003) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(h) Deadlines for Consideration of Geothermal Drilling
Permits.--
``(1) Notice.--Not later than 30 days after the date on
which the Secretary receives an application for any
geothermal drilling permit, the Secretary shall--
``(A) provide written notice to the applicant that the
application is complete; or
``(B) notify the applicant that information is missing and
specify any information that is required to be submitted for
the application to be complete.
``(2) Issuance of decision.--If the Secretary determines
that an application for a geothermal drilling permit is
complete under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary shall issue a
final decision on the application not later than 30 days
after the Secretary notifies the applicant that the
application is complete.''.
The CHAIR. No amendment to the bill shall be in order except those
printed in House Report 118-754.
Each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the
report, by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered read,
shall be debatable for the time specified in the report, equally
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be
subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division
of the question.
{time} 1430
Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Grijalva
The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed in
House Report 118-754.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 4, line 7, strike ``30'' and insert ``90''.
Page 4, strike lines 17 through 23 and insert the
following:
``(2) Decision.--Not later than 30 days after the date on
which an applicant submits a complete application for a
geothermal drilling permit under paragraph (1), the Secretary
shall--
``(A) grant or deny the application, if the requirements
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and any other applicable law have been
completed; or
``(B) defer the decision on the application and provide to
the applicant notice--
``(i) that specifies steps that the applicant can take for
the decision on the application to be issued; and
``(ii) of a list of actions that need to be taken by the
agency in order to comply with applicable law, and timelines
and deadlines for completing those actions.''.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1576, the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, this amendment, which I offered a version
of at the markup nearly a year ago, would have addressed all the
concerns. If adopted, I would be happy to support H.R. 1449.
This amendment extends the timeline for the Department to determine
permit completeness, as the Department requested in its testimony, and
gives flexibility to issue a final determination on a permit when
environmental review is actually complete.
This will ensure permitting is done in a timely manner, in accordance
with Federal law, reducing the risk of litigation and promoting
responsible development.
There are a few things to note on this amendment. The first thing is,
for the 90-day timeline for determining permit completeness, I point my
colleagues to H.R. 6011 from Republican Representative Valadao.
That bill directs the Secretary to notify a right-of-way applicant,
which is the permit needed for a transmission line or a pipeline to
cross Federal land, that their permit is complete or not within 90 days
of submission.
My amendment proposes that same standard for geothermal drilling
permits.
For my amendment piece about flexibility, I point my colleagues to
the Manchin-Barrasso permitting proposal.
I have plenty of concerns with that bill, but even those Senators saw
the same issues with approving or denying a permit within 30 days. That
is why their bill includes the same environmental review backstop
language for geothermal as is included in my amendment here.
These are bipartisan and Republican-endorsed ideas. My colleagues
should take yes for an answer and accept that.
This amendment is a reasonable solution to the issues we raised
almost a year ago and have continued to raise since.
If this amendment passes, it will be a bipartisan win for geothermal
and a demonstration of good-faith cooperation from the other side of
the aisle.
Mr. Chair, I strongly urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle
to vote ``yes'' on my amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The CHAIR. The gentleman from Arkansas is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chairman, it is good to see my colleague, Mr.
Grijalva, here in the Chamber today. Although it is good to see him
presenting his amendment, I oppose the amendment.
This amendment attempts to mirror the language in the Mineral Leasing
Act for oil and gas production on Federal lands, but, unfortunately,
there are some key differences. If my colleagues look at it in its
whole, the amendment would make it more difficult to lease geothermal
resources than to lease oil and gas.
In fact, this amendment would triple the timeline for an agency to
respond to a project applicant on whether their geothermal drilling
permit application is complete or deficient.
This is not a timeline for permit approval. It is a timeline for
simply letting someone know if they submitted a complete application.
Under current law, the BLM is already required to provide similar
affirmation on oil and gas permit applications within 10 days. This
amendment
[[Page H6093]]
would create a timeline for geothermal permit applicants nine times
longer than those BLM is already held to for oil and gas.
The amendment also states that the NEPA review must be complete
before final permit approval. This language is unnecessary. The bill
does nothing to waive NEPA requirements.
Additionally, the amendment would create a new option for the BLM to
deny geothermal permits, effectively pulling the rug out from under
energy projects at the last step in the permitting process.
Mr. Chairman, for these reasons, I oppose the amendment, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to
the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib) to address this amendment.
Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Chair, I support this amendment.
I am glad to see that many of my Republican colleagues are taking a
real interest, obviously, in clean air and energy production, but clean
energy projects can't truly be considered clean if the permitting
agencies don't have the proper time to conduct real NEPA reviews.
Again, the National Environmental Policy Act is there in place and
wanting to extend the time, saying it is unnecessary without actually
putting it in writing to have the necessary time. We are talking about
drilling permits here.
Congressman Grijalva knows the challenges facing the Department of
the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management, as many of my
colleagues know. He has heard directly from staffers who review these
permit applications that the timelines in this bill will not work.
Our amendment makes simple changes to make the timelines in this bill
more realistic and, in the process, protect many of our communities
while we develop the clean, renewable energy we need in our Nation.
I urge my colleagues to listen to the staffers who review these
applications and support this commonsense amendment that gives the
Bureau of Land Management's staffers the time that they need to review
the permit applications.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, my amendment consists of reasonable fixes
that Republicans have previously supported. If adopted, Democrats would
unanimously support the final passage of this bill.
Mr. Chair, I encourage my colleagues to support my amendment, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, again, the bill does nothing to waive NEPA
requirements. It just simply speeds up the timeline.
It shouldn't take an agency 90 days to notify an applicant if an
application is complete or not. We need more of this clean, renewable
energy. To get more of it, we need to get a permitting process that
works.
Unfortunately, this amendment would slow down the process even more.
That is why I am opposed to the amendment. I encourage others to vote
against it, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman
from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva).
The question was taken; and the Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on
the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona will be postponed.
Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Grijalva
The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 2 printed in
House Report 118-754.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Add at the end the following:
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take
effect on the date on which the Secretary of the Interior
certifies that the Bureau of Land Management and other
relevant Federal permitting agencies have received adequate
funding to resolve permitting staff shortages required to
meet the deadlines established under this Act and the
amendments made by this Act.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1576, the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, this amendment says that this act cannot
take effect until the Secretary certifies that the Bureau of Land
Management and other Federal permitting agencies have sufficient staff
and funding to actually comply with the deadlines established by this
act.
The tight deadlines in this bill are part of what has become the
classic Republican permitting playbook of complaining that agencies
don't move fast enough, gut their funding, and then impose deadlines
impossible to achieve.
If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are going to impose
these deadlines, let's make sure the agencies can actually do the work.
Mr. Chair, I might add that that is exactly what Democrats did with
the IRA. Democrats secured $1 billion for the Federal permitting
offices so that they can do their jobs and they can do the jobs that
are required by the IRA. It is already working.
The Biden-Harris administration cut 6 months off from the median time
it takes for agencies to complete environmental impact statements, a 16
percent time savings compared to the Trump administration.
The Department of Energy has cut environmental review timelines in
half, and the Department of Transportation has cut time by more than
one-third. These are real permitting improvements, not wishful thinking
like we have in this bill.
That is what is dangerous about this bill, the timelines are so short
that many good project proposals will get permit denials unnecessarily,
not because the application couldn't pass the environmental review, but
because the bill forces a decision before the review is completed.
Instead of letting the applicant wait a few more days to get the
review completed, the bill forces the agency to move ahead and deny the
permit. This is going to set geothermal back right when we should be
supporting it the most.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The CHAIR. The gentleman from Arkansas is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment. It would gut
the bill by conditioning enactment on a determination by the Secretary
of the Interior that the Bureau of Land Management and other relevant
Federal permitting agencies have received adequate funding to resolve
permitting staff shortages.
If Members felt the urge to laugh when I stated that, they are
probably not too far off because this amendment doesn't really pass the
laugh test.
I have never heard of a Federal agency admitting to having enough
funding or enough staff, and this amendment simply is a poison pill
because the action it is conditioned on simply will never happen.
The issue is not DOI staff capacity but burdensome permitting
processes that take years, produce duplicative reviews, and consume
thousands of hours for regulators and project proponents alike.
Actually, we passed a bill just last week that will help resolve any
issue that may be there. H.R. 7409 would decrease the administrative
load on staff and field offices by not requiring a Federal permit for
geothermal energy produced on State and private lands. That bill would
rapidly streamline the approval process by relying on the States'
permitting procedures rather than the duplicative Federal process.
My friends on the other side of the aisle had a chance last week to
free agency staffers from their redundant work, but many opposed the
bill.
Let's not forget that last Congress, as the gentleman from Arizona
(Mr. Grijalva) stated, the Democrats rammed through a reconciliation
package with a billion dollars for permitting. DOI had $150 million,
and from that bill, it was to provide for the hiring and training of
personnel, the development of programmatic environmental documents, the
procurement of technical or scientific services for environmental
reviews, the development of
[[Page H6094]]
environmental data or information systems, stakeholder and community
engagement.
In fact, the Department has grown by 4,000 full-time equivalents from
fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2023.
More funding and bureaucrats aren't what is needed now. What is
needed is for DOI to recognize energy permitting as a priority and
create a plan for meeting the required timelines.
We must continue working here to pass more permitting reform measures
to help alleviate the permitting burden on important energy projects.
These measures will also reduce the redundant permitting tasks
performed by the Federal workforce.
H.R. 1449 will hold the Department's feet to the fire by forcing them
to act on geothermal leasing and permitting in a timely manner. For
those reasons, I oppose the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, my amendment would prevent this bill from
creating a situation where the agency is required to decide on permits
before the applicants have had a chance to go through environmental
reviews.
Without my amendment, this bill will force the administration to deny
permits to good geothermal projects that we should be supporting.
Mr. Chair, I encourage my colleagues to support the amendment, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1445
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I think we have to ask ourselves, do we
want environmental growth in this country to be based on growing the
bureaucracy and spending more money on permits, or do we actually want
to make things? Do we want to produce energy? Do we want to use the
resources that we have?
Geothermal operators are often required to complete six separate NEPA
reviews to get a Federal permit: one for exploration, another if there
is a subsurface anomaly, a third for drilling a slim confirmation hole,
a fourth to develop the well field, a fifth for the power plant itself,
and a sixth if the project is speculative exploration on lands not
previously leased.
The status quo is a duplicative and wasteful process and prevents the
United States from developing this very clean energy source. Performing
NEPA six times does not provide six times the environmental benefit,
rather less duplicative NEPA reviews will actually increase the rate at
which these clean energy resources come online.
This bill is an attempt to put more clean energy resources on the
grid at a faster pace. This amendment would undermine that goal. I
oppose it, and I urge my colleagues to oppose it.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman
from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva).
The question was taken; and the Chair announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on
the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona will be postponed.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Westerman) having assumed the chair, Mr. LaLota, Chair of the Committee
of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that
Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1449) to amend
the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to increase the frequency of lease
sales, to require replacement sales, and for other purposes, had come
to no resolution thereon.
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