Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2021

IB Union Calendar No. 459 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3326 [Report No. 117–636, Part I] To promote the development of renewable energy on public lands, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 19, 2021 Mr. LEVIN of California 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 Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction of the committee concerned DECEMBER 14, 2022 Additional sponsor: Mr. GRIJALVA DECEMBER 14, 2022 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources DECEMBER 14, 2022 Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3326 RH A BILL To promote the development of renewable energy on public lands, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3326 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Land Renew- 4 able Energy Development Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Definitions. Sec. 4. Land use planning; updates to programmatic environmental impact statements. Sec. 5. Limited grandfathering. Sec. 6. Disposition of revenues. Sec. 7. Savings. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 8 In this Act: 9 (1) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 10 means land that is— 11 (A) Federal lands administered by the Sec- 12 retary; and 13 (B) not excluded from the development of 14 geothermal, solar, or wind energy under— 15 (i) a land use plan; or 16 (ii) other Federal law. 17 (2) EXCLUSION AREA.—The term ‘‘exclusion 18 area’’ means covered land that is identified by the 19 Bureau of Land Management as not suitable for de- 20 velopment of renewable energy projects. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3326 RH (3) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 1 means— 2 (A) public lands; and 3 (B) lands of the National Forest System 4 as described in section 11(a) of the Forest and 5 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 6 of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 7 (4) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Re- 8 newable Energy Resource Conservation Fund estab- 9 lished by section 6(c)(1). 10 (5) LAND USE PLAN.—The term ‘‘land use 11 plan’’ means— 12 (A) in regard to Federal land, a land use 13 plan established under the Federal Land Policy 14 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 15 et seq.); and 16 (B) in regard to National Forest System 17 lands, a land management plan approved, 18 amended, or revised under section 6 of the For- 19 est and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan- 20 ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 21 (6) PRIORITY AREA.—The term ‘‘priority area’’ 22 means covered land identified by the land use plan- 23 ning process of the Bureau of Land Management as 24 being a preferred location for a renewable energy 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3326 RH project, including a designated leasing area (as de- 1 fined in section 2801.5(b) of title 43, Code of Fed- 2 eral Regulations (or a successor regulation)) that is 3 identified under the rule of the Bureau of Land 4 Management entitled ‘‘Competitive Processes, 5 Terms, and Conditions for Leasing Public Lands for 6 Solar and Wind Energy Development and Technical 7 Changes and Corrections’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 92122 8 (December 19, 2016)) (or a successor regulation). 9 (7) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 10 has the meaning given that term in section 103 of 11 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 12 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 13 (8) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT.—The term 14 ‘‘renewable energy project’’ means a project carried 15 out on covered land that uses wind, solar, or geo- 16 thermal energy to generate energy. 17 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 18 the Secretary of the Interior. 19 (10) VARIANCE AREA.—The term ‘‘variance 20 area’’ means covered land that is— 21 (A) not an exclusion area; 22 (B) not a priority area; and 23 (C) identified by the Secretary as poten- 24 tially available for renewable energy develop- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3326 RH ment and could be approved without a plan 1 amendment, consistent with the principles of 2 multiple use (as defined in the Federal Land 3 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 4 1701 et seq.)). 5 SEC. 4. LAND USE PLANNING; UPDATES TO PRO- 6 GRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 7 STATEMENTS. 8 (a) PRIORITY AREAS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta- 10 tion with the Secretary of Energy, shall establish 11 priority areas on covered land for geothermal, solar, 12 and wind energy projects, consistent with the prin- 13 ciples of multiple use (as defined in the Federal 14 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 15 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)) and the renewable energy per- 16 mitting goal enacted by the Consolidated Appropria- 17 tions Act of 2021 (Public Law 116–260). Among 18 applications for a given renewable energy source, 19 proposed projects located in priority areas for that 20 renewable energy source shall— 21 (A) be given the highest priority for 22 incentivizing deployment thereon; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3326 RH (B) be offered the opportunity to partici- 1 pate in any regional mitigation plan developed 2 for the relevant priority areas. 3 (2) ESTABLISHING PRIORITY AREAS.— 4 (A) GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.—For geo- 5 thermal energy, the Secretary shall establish 6 priority areas as soon as practicable, but not 7 later than 5 years, after the date of the enact- 8 ment of this Act. 9 (B) SOLAR ENERGY.—For solar energy— 10 (i) solar designated leasing areas (in- 11 cluding the solar energy zones established 12 by Bureau of Land Management Solar En- 13 ergy Program, established in October 14 2012), and any subsequent land use plan 15 amendments, shall be considered to be pri- 16 ority areas for solar energy projects; and 17 (ii) the Secretary shall complete a 18 process to consider establishing additional 19 solar priority areas as soon as practicable, 20 but not later than 3 years, after the date 21 of the enactment of this Act. 22 (C) WIND ENERGY.—For wind energy, the 23 Secretary shall complete a process to consider 24 establishing additional wind priority areas as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3326 RH soon as practicable, but not later than 3 years, 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 2 (b) VARIANCE AREAS.—Variance areas shall be con- 3 sidered for renewable energy project development, con- 4 sistent with the principles of multiple use (as defined in 5 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 6 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)) and the renewable energy per- 7 mitting goal enacted by the Consolidated Appropriations 8 Act of 2021 (Public Law 116–260), and applications for 9 a given renewable energy source located in those variance 10 areas shall be timely processed in order to assist in meet- 11 ing that goal. 12 (c) REVIEW AND MODIFICATION.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less than once every 10 14 years, the Secretary shall— 15 (A) review the adequacy of land allocations 16 for geothermal, solar, and wind energy priority, 17 exclusion, and variance areas for the purpose of 18 encouraging and facilitating new renewable en- 19 ergy development opportunities; and 20 (B) based on the review carried out under 21 subparagraph (A), add, modify, or eliminate 22 priority, variance, and exclusion areas. 23 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 24 apply to the renewable energy land use planning 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3326 RH published in the Desert Renewable Energy Con- 1 servation Plan developed by the California Energy 2 Commission, the California Department of Fish and 3 Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management, and the 4 United States Fish and Wildlife Service until Janu- 5 ary 1, 2030. 6 (d) COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRON- 7 MENTAL POLICY ACT.—For purposes of this section, com- 8 pliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 9 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be accomplished— 10 (1) for geothermal energy, by updating the doc- 11 ument entitled ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental 12 Impact Statement for Geothermal Leasing in the 13 Western United States’’, dated October 2008, and 14 incorporating any additional regional analyses that 15 have been completed by Federal agencies since that 16 programmatic environmental impact statement was 17 finalized; 18 (2) for solar energy, by updating the document 19 entitled ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 20 Statement (PEIS) for Solar Energy Development in 21 Six Southwestern States’’, dated July 2012, and in- 22 corporating any additional regional analyses that 23 have been completed by Federal agencies since that 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3326 RH programmatic environmental impact statement was 1 finalized; and 2 (3) for wind energy, by updating the document 3 entitled ‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 4 Statement on Wind Energy Development on BLM– 5 Administered Lands in the Western United States’’, 6 dated July 2005, and incorporating any additional 7 regional analyses that have been completed by Fed- 8 eral agencies since the programmatic environmental 9 impact statement was finalized. 10 (e) NO EFFECT ON PROCESSING SITE SPECIFIC AP- 11 PLICATIONS.—Site specific environmental review and 12 processing of permits for proposed projects shall proceed 13 during preparation of an updated programmatic environ- 14 mental impact statement, resource management plan, or 15 resource management plan amendment. 16 (f) COORDINATION.—In developing updates required 17 by this section, the Secretary shall coordinate, on an ongo- 18 ing basis, with appropriate State, Tribal, and local govern- 19 ments, transmission infrastructure owners and operators, 20 developers, and other appropriate entities to ensure that 21 priority areas identified by the Secretary are— 22 (1) economically viable (including having access 23 to existing and planned transmission lines); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3326 RH (2) likely to avoid or minimize impacts to habi- 1 tat for animals and plants, recreation, cultural re- 2 sources, and other uses of covered land; and 3 (3) consistent with section 202 of the Federal 4 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 5 U.S.C. 1712), including subsection (c)(9) of that 6 section (43 U.S.C. 1712(c)(9)). 7 SEC. 5. LIMITED GRANDFATHERING. 8 (a) DEFINITION OF PROJECT.—In this section, the 9 term ‘‘project’’ means a system described in section 10 2801.9(a)(4) of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (as 11 in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). 12 (b) REQUIREMENT TO PAY RENTS AND FEES.—Un- 13 less otherwise agreed to by the owner of a project, the 14 owner of a project that applied for a right-of-way under 15 section 501 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 16 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) on or before December 19, 17 2016, shall be obligated to pay with respect to the right- 18 of-way all rents and fees in effect before the effective date 19 of the rule of the Bureau of Land Management entitled 20 ‘‘Competitive Processes, Terms, and Conditions for Leas- 21 ing Public Lands for Solar and Wind Energy Development 22 and Technical Changes and Corrections’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 23 92122 (December 19, 2016)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3326 RH SEC. 6. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES. 1 (a) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.— 2 (1) AVAILABILITY.—Except as provided in 3 paragraph (2), beginning on January 1, 2022, of 4 amounts collected from a wind or solar project as 5 bonus bids, rentals, fees, or other payments under a 6 right-of-way, permit, lease, or other authorization 7 the following shall be made available, without fur- 8 ther appropriation or fiscal year limitation, as fol- 9 lows: 10 (A) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by 11 the Secretary of the Treasury to the State with- 12 in the boundaries of which the revenue is de- 13 rived. 14 (B) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by 15 the Secretary of the Treasury to the one or 16 more counties within the boundaries of which 17 the revenue is derived, to be allocated among 18 the counties based on the percentage of land 19 from which the revenue is derived. 20 (C) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited 21 in the Treasury and be made available to the 22 Secretary to carry out the program established 23 under this Act, including the transfer of the 24 funds by the Bureau of Land Management to 25 other Federal agencies and State agencies to fa- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.RH H3326 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3326 RH cilitate the processing of renewable energy per- 1 mits on Federal land, with priority given to 2 using the amounts, to the maximum extent 3 practicable without detrimental impacts to 4 emerging markets, to expediting the issuance of 5 permits required for the development of renew- 6 able energy projects in the States from which 7 the revenues are derived. 8 (D) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited 9 in the Renewable Energy Resource Conserva- 10 tion Fund established by subse [Text truncated for display. 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