GEO Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1901 To promote geothermal energy, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 19, 2019 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To promote geothermal energy, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Geothermal Energy 4 Opportunities Act’’ or the ‘‘GEO Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL GOALS FOR PRODUCTION AND SITE 6 IDENTIFICATION. 7 It is the sense of Congress that, not later than 10 8 years after the date of enactment of this Act— 9 (1) the Secretary of the Interior should seek to 10 have approved more than 15,000 megawatts of new 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1901 IS geothermal energy capacity on public land across a 1 geographically diverse set of States using the full 2 range of available technologies; and 3 (2) the Director of the United States Geological 4 Survey and the Secretary of Energy should identify 5 sites capable of producing a total of 50,000 6 megawatts of geothermal power, using the full range 7 of available technologies. 8 SEC. 3. PRIORITY AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT ON FEDERAL 9 LAND. 10 The Director of the Bureau of Land Management, 11 in consultation with other appropriate Federal officials, 12 shall— 13 (1) identify high-priority areas for new geo- 14 thermal development; and 15 (2) take any actions the Director determines 16 necessary to facilitate that development, consistent 17 with applicable laws. 18 SEC. 4. FACILITATION OF COPRODUCTION OF GEO- 19 THERMAL ENERGY ON OIL AND GAS LEASES. 20 Section 4(b) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 21 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 22 following: 23 ‘‘(4) LAND SUBJECT TO OIL AND GAS LEASE.— 24 Land under an oil and gas lease issued pursuant to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1901 IS the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or 1 the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 2 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) that is subject to an approved 3 application for permit to drill and from which oil 4 and gas production is occurring may be available for 5 noncompetitive leasing under this section to the 6 holder of the oil and gas lease— 7 ‘‘(A) on a determination that— 8 ‘‘(i) geothermal energy will be pro- 9 duced from a well producing or capable of 10 producing oil and gas; and 11 ‘‘(ii) national energy security will be 12 improved by the issuance of such a lease; 13 and 14 ‘‘(B) to provide for the coproduction of 15 geothermal energy with oil and gas.’’. 16 SEC. 5. COST-SHARED EXPLORATION. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—To promote the goals described 18 in section 2, the Secretary of Energy may conduct a feder- 19 ally funded program of cost-shared drilling with industry 20 partners— 21 (1) to explore and document new geothermal re- 22 sources in the United States; and 23 (2) to develop improved tools and methods for 24 geothermal resource identification and extraction, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1901 IS with the goal of achieving material reductions in the 1 cost of exploration with a corresponding increase in 2 the likelihood of drilling success. 3 (b) GRANTS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the program 5 described in subsection (a), the Secretary of Energy 6 may award cost-share grants on a competitive and 7 merit basis to eligible applicants to support explo- 8 ration drilling and related activities. 9 (2) PROJECT CRITERIA.—In selecting appli- 10 cants to receive grants under paragraph (1), the 11 Secretary of Energy shall— 12 (A) give preference to applicants proposing 13 projects located in a variety of geologic and geo- 14 graphic settings with previously unexplored, 15 underexplored, or unproven geothermal re- 16 sources; and 17 (B) consider— 18 (i) the potential that the unproven 19 geothermal resources would be explored 20 and developed under the proposed project; 21 (ii) the expertise and experience of an 22 applicant in developing geothermal re- 23 sources; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1901 IS (iii) the contribution the proposed 1 project would make toward meeting the 2 goals described in section 2. 3 (c) DATA SHARING.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Data from all exploratory 5 wells that are carried out under the program de- 6 scribed in subsection (a) shall be provided to the 7 Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of the Inte- 8 rior for— 9 (A) use in mapping national geothermal 10 resources; and 11 (B) other purposes, including— 12 (i) subsurface geologic data; 13 (ii) metadata; 14 (iii) borehole temperature data; and 15 (iv) inclusion in the National Geo- 16 thermal Data System of the Department of 17 Energy. 18 (2) SHARING OF CONFIDENTIAL DATA.—Not 19 later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 20 this Act, confidential data from all exploratory wells 21 that are carried out under the program described in 22 subsection (a) shall be provided to the Secretary of 23 Energy and the Secretary of the Interior for the 24 purposes described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1901 IS paragraph (1), to be available for a period of time 1 to be determined by the Secretary of Energy and the 2 Secretary of the Interior. 3 SEC. 6. USE OF GEOTHERMAL LEASE REVENUES. 4 (a) AMOUNTS DEPOSITED.—Notwithstanding any 5 other provision of law, beginning in the first full fiscal year 6 after the date of enactment of this Act, any amounts re- 7 ceived by the United States as rentals, royalties, and other 8 payments required under leases pursuant to the Geo- 9 thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) (ex- 10 cluding funds required to be paid to State and county gov- 11 ernments) and from new geothermal leases issued after 12 the date of enactment of this Act shall be deposited into 13 a separate account in the Treasury. 14 (b) USE OF DEPOSITS.—Amounts deposited under 15 subsection (a) shall be available to the Secretary of Energy 16 for expenditure, without further appropriation or fiscal 17 year limitation, to carry out section 5. 18 (c) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—To promote the goals de- 19 scribed in section 2, the Secretary of Energy may author- 20 ize the expenditure or transfer of any funds that are nec- 21 essary to other cooperating Federal agencies. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1901 IS SEC. 7. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS 1 FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GEOTHERMAL RE- 2 SOURCES. 3 Section 4(b) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 4 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) (as amended by section 4) is amend- 5 ed by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(5) ADJOINING LAND.— 7 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 8 ‘‘(i) FAIR MARKET VALUE PER 9 ACRE.—The term ‘fair market value per 10 acre’ means a dollar amount per acre 11 that— 12 ‘‘(I) except as provided in this 13 clause, shall be equal to the market 14 value per acre (taking into account 15 the determination under subparagraph 16 (B)(iii) regarding a valid discovery on 17 the adjoining land), as determined by 18 the Secretary under regulations issued 19 under this paragraph; 20 ‘‘(II) shall be determined by the 21 Secretary with respect to a lease 22 under this paragraph, by not later 23 than the end of the 180-day period 24 beginning on the date the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1901 IS receives an application for the lease; 1 and 2 ‘‘(III) shall be not less than the 3 greater of— 4 ‘‘(aa) 4 times the median 5 amount paid per acre for all land 6 leased under this Act during the 7 preceding year; or 8 ‘‘(bb) $50. 9 ‘‘(ii) INDUSTRY STANDARDS.—The 10 term ‘industry standards’ means the stand- 11 ards by which a qualified geothermal pro- 12 fessional assesses whether downhole or 13 flowing temperature measurements with 14 indications of permeability are sufficient to 15 produce energy from geothermal resources, 16 as determined through flow or injection 17 testing or measurement of lost circulation 18 while drilling. 19 ‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED FEDERAL LAND.— 20 The term ‘qualified Federal land’ means 21 land that is otherwise available for leasing 22 under this Act. 23 ‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED GEOTHERMAL PRO- 24 FESSIONAL.—The term ‘qualified geo- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1901 IS thermal professional’ means an individual 1 who is an engineer or geoscientist in good 2 professional standing with at least 5 years 3 of experience in geothermal exploration, 4 development, or project assessment. 5 ‘‘(v) QUALIFIED LESSEE.—The term 6 ‘qualified lessee’ means a person that is el- 7 igible to hold a geothermal lease under this 8 Act (including applicable regulations). 9 ‘‘(vi) VALID DISCOVERY.—The term 10 ‘valid discovery’ means a discovery of a 11 geothermal resource by a new or existing 12 slim hole or production well, that exhibits 13 downhole or flowing temperature measure- 14 ments with indications of permeability that 15 are sufficient to meet industry standards. 16 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY.—An area of qualified 17 Federal land that adjoins other land for which 18 a qualified lessee holds a legal right to develop 19 geothermal resources may be available for a 20 noncompetitive lease under this section to the 21 qualified lessee at the fair market value per 22 acre, if— 23 ‘‘(i) the area of qualified Federal 24 land— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1901 IS ‘‘(I) consists of not less than 1 1 acre and not more than 640 acres; 2 and 3 ‘‘(II) is not already leased under 4 this Act or nominated to be leased 5 under subsection (a); 6 ‘‘(ii) the qualified lessee has not pre- 7 viously received a noncompetitive lease 8 under this paragraph in connection with 9 the valid discovery for which data has been 10 submitted under clause (iii)(I); and 11 ‘‘(iii) sufficient geological and other 12 technical data prepared by a qualified geo- 13 thermal professional has been submitted by 14 the qualified lessee to the applicable Fed- 15 eral land management agency that would 16 lead individuals who are experienced in the 17 subject matter to believe that— 18 ‘‘(I) there is a valid discovery of 19 geothermal resources on the land for 20 which the qualified lessee holds the 21 legal right to develop geothermal re- 22 sources; and 23 ‘‘(II) that thermal feature ex- 24 tends into the adjoining areas. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1901 IS ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF FAIR MARKET 1 VALUE.— 2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 3 shall— 4 ‘‘(I) publish a notice of any re- 5 quest to lease land under this para- 6 graph; 7 ‘‘(II) determine fair market value 8 for purposes of this paragraph in ac- 9 cordance with procedures for making 10 those determinations that are estab- 11 lished by regulations issued by the 12 Secretary; 13 ‘‘(III) provide to a qualified les- 14 see and publish, with an opportunity 15 for public comment for a period of 30 16 days, any proposed determination 17 under this subparagraph of the fair 18 market value of an area that the 19 qualified lessee seeks to lease under 20 this paragraph; and 21 ‘‘(IV) provide to the qualified les- 22 see and any adversely affected party 23 the opportunity to appeal the final de- 24 termination of fair market value in an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 1901 IS administrative proceeding before the 1 applicable Federal land management 2 agency, in accordance with applicable 3 law (including regulations). 4 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON NOMINATION.— 5 After publication of a notice of request to 6 lease land under this paragraph, the Sec- 7 retary may not accept under subsection (a) 8 any nomination of the land for leasing un- 9 less the request has been denied or with- 10 drawn. 11 ‘‘(iii) ANNUAL RENTAL.—For pur- 12 poses of section 5(a)(3), a lease awarded 13 under this paragraph shall be considered a 14 lease awarded in a competitive lease sale. 15 ‘‘(D) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 16 days after the date of enactment of the Geo- 17 thermal Energy Opportunities Act, the Sec- 18 retary shall issue regulations to carry out this 19 paragraph.’’. 20 SEC. 8. LARGE-SCALE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY. 21 Title VI of the Energy Independence and Security 22 Act of 2007 is amended by inserting after section 616 (42 23 U.S.C. 17195) the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1901.IS S1901 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 1901 IS ‘‘SEC. 616A. LARGE-SCALE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY. 1 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 2 ‘‘(1) the Geothermal Technologies Program of 3 the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable En- 4 ergy of the Department has included a focus on di- 5 rect use of geothermal energy in the low-temperature 6 geothermal energy subprogram (including in the de- 7 velopment of a research and development plan for 8 the program); 9 ‘‘(2) the Building Technologies Program of the 10 Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 11 of the Department— 12 ‘‘(A) is focused on the energy demand and 13 energy efficiency of buildings; and 14 ‘‘(B) includes geothermal heat pumps as a 15 component technology in the residential and 16 commercial deployment activities of the pro- 17 gram; and 18 ‘‘(3) geothermal heat pumps and direct use of 19 geothermal energy, especially in large-scale applica- 20 tions, can make a significant contribution to the use 21 of renewable energy but are underreprese [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]