AGILE Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 357 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2657 To support innovation in advanced geothermal research and development, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 22, 2019 Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources DECEMBER 17, 2019 Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To support innovation in advanced geothermal research and development, 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 ‘‘Advanced Geothermal 4 Innovation Leadership Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘AGILE Act 5 of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2657 RS SEC. 2. UPDATE TO GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT. 1 Section 2501 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (30 2 U.S.C. 1028) is amended— 3 (1) by redesignating subsections (a) and (b) as 4 subsections (b) and (d), respectively; 5 (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so re- 6 designated) the following: 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF ENHANCED GEOTHERMAL SYS- 8 TEMS.—In this section, the term ‘enhanced geothermal 9 systems’ has the meaning given the term in section 612 10 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 11 U.S.C. 17191).’’; 12 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) (as so re- 13 designated) the following: 14 ‘‘(c) UPDATE TO GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE ASSESS- 15 MENT.—The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 16 United States Geological Survey, and in consultation with 17 the Secretary of Energy, shall update the United States 18 geothermal resource assessment carried out by the United 19 States Geological Survey, including by focusing on— 20 ‘‘(1) with respect to areas previously identified 21 by the Department of Energy or the United States 22 Geological Survey as having significant potential for 23 hydrothermal energy or enhanced geothermal sys- 24 tems energy— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2657 RS ‘‘(A) improving the resolution of resource 1 potential at systematic temperatures and 2 depths, including temperatures and depths ap- 3 propriate for power generation and direct use 4 applications; 5 ‘‘(B) quantifying the total potential to co- 6 produce geothermal energy and minerals; 7 ‘‘(C) incorporating data relevant to under- 8 ground thermal energy storage and exchange, 9 such as aquifer and soil properties; and 10 ‘‘(D) producing high resolution maps, in- 11 cluding— 12 ‘‘(i) maps that indicate key subsurface 13 parameters for electric and direct use re- 14 sources; and 15 ‘‘(ii) risk maps for induced seismicity 16 based on geologic, geographic, and oper- 17 ational parameters; and 18 ‘‘(2) to the maximum extent practicable, ex- 19 panding geothermal assessments, including enhanced 20 geothermal systems assessments, to include assess- 21 ments for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the 22 States of Alaska and Hawaii.’’; and 23 (4) in subsection (d) (as so redesignated), by 24 striking ‘‘necesary’’ and inserting ‘‘necessary’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2657 RS SEC. 3. GENERAL GEOTHERMAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOP- 1 MENT PROGRAMS. 2 Section 614 of the Energy Independence and Security 3 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17193) is amended by adding at 4 the end the following: 5 ‘‘(d) OIL AND GAS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER INITIA- 6 TIVE.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall sup- 8 port an initiative among the Office of Fossil Energy, 9 the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable En- 10 ergy, and the private sector to modify, improve, and 11 demonstrate the use in geothermal energy develop- 12 ment of relevant advanced technologies and oper- 13 ation techniques used in the oil and gas sector. 14 ‘‘(2) PRIORITIES.—In carrying out paragraph 15 (1), the Secretary shall prioritize technologies with 16 the greatest potential to significantly increase the 17 use and lower the cost of geothermal energy in the 18 United States, including the cost and speed of geo- 19 thermal drilling. 20 ‘‘(e) SECONDARY USE SUBPROGRAM.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall sup- 22 port within the Geothermal Technologies Office a 23 program of research, development, and demonstra- 24 tion in the secondary use of geothermal energy other 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2657 RS than for electricity, direct use, or geothermal ex- 1 change heat pumps. 2 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM AREAS.—The program under 3 paragraph (1) shall include the following areas: 4 ‘‘(A) Minerals recovery, including lithium, 5 silica, and rare earth elements. 6 ‘‘(B) Geothermal-powered desalination. 7 ‘‘(C) Industrial applications of geothermal 8 energy. 9 ‘‘(D) The use of geothermal energy as a 10 grid management resource or seasonal energy 11 storage. 12 ‘‘(E) Other cost competitive secondary uses 13 of geothermal energy, as determined by the Sec- 14 retary. 15 ‘‘(F) Systems that utilize a combination of 16 the techniques and uses described in subpara- 17 graphs (A) through (E) with geothermal heat 18 or power. 19 ‘‘(3) COPRODUCTION OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY 20 AND MINERALS PRODUCTION PRIZE COMPETITION.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 22 carry out a prize competition under which the 23 Secretary shall award prizes to demonstrate the 24 coproduction of critical minerals (as defined by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2657 RS the Secretary of the Interior on the date of en- 1 actment of the AGILE Act of 2019) from geo- 2 thermal resources. 3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—A demonstration 4 awarded a prize under subparagraph (A) 5 shall— 6 ‘‘(i) improve the cost-effectiveness of 7 removing minerals from geothermal brines 8 as part of the coproduction process; 9 ‘‘(ii) increase recovery rates of the 10 targeted mineral commodity; 11 ‘‘(iii) decrease water use and other en- 12 vironmental impacts, as determined by the 13 Secretary; and 14 ‘‘(iv) demonstrate a path to commer- 15 cial viability. 16 ‘‘(C) MAXIMUM PRIZE AMOUNT.—The 17 maximum amount of a prize awarded under 18 subparagraph (A) shall be $10,000,000. 19 ‘‘(D) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 20 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 21 to the Secretary to carry out this paragraph 22 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 23 through 2023.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2657 RS SEC. 4. MODIFYING THE DEFINITION OF RENEWABLE EN- 1 ERGY TO INCLUDE THERMAL ENERGY. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203 of the Energy Policy 3 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15852) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (b)— 5 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 6 paragraph (3); 7 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED WASTE HEAT RESOURCE.—The 10 term ‘qualified waste heat resource’ means— 11 ‘‘(A) exhaust heat or flared gas from any 12 industrial process; 13 ‘‘(B) waste gas or industrial tail gas that 14 would otherwise be flared, incinerated, or vent- 15 ed; 16 ‘‘(C) a pressure drop in any gas as part of 17 an industrial or commercial process; or 18 ‘‘(D) such other forms of waste heat as the 19 Secretary determines appropriate.’’; and 20 (C) in paragraph (3) (as so redesig- 21 nated)— 22 (i) by striking ‘‘generated from’’ and 23 inserting ‘‘produced from, or, in the case 24 of thermal energy resulting from a thermal 25 energy project placed in service after De- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2657 RS cember 31, 2018, thermal energy gen- 1 erated from, or avoided by,’’; and 2 (ii) by inserting ‘‘qualified waste heat 3 resource,’’ before ‘‘or new’’; and 4 (2) in subsection (c)— 5 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 6 through (3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C), 7 respectively, and indenting appropriately; 8 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 9 (A) (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘For pur- 10 poses’’ and inserting the following: 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes’’; and 12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(2) SEPARATE CALCULATION.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of deter- 15 mining compliance with the requirement of this 16 section, any energy consumption that is avoided 17 through the use of renewable energy shall be 18 considered to be renewable energy produced. 19 ‘‘(B) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.— 20 Avoided energy consumption that is considered 21 to be renewable energy produced under sub- 22 paragraph (A) shall not also be counted for 23 purposes of achieving compliance with another 24 Federal energy efficiency goal.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2657 RS (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2410q(a) 1 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking 2 ‘‘section 203(b)(2) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 3 U.S.C. 15852(b)(2))’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(b) of the 4 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15852(b))’’. 5 SEC. 5. ENHANCED GEOTHERMAL RESEARCH AND DEVEL- 6 OPMENT. 7 (a) DEFINITION OF ENGINEERED.—Section 612(1) 8 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 9 U.S.C. 17191(1)) is amended in the matter preceding sub- 10 paragraph (A) by striking ‘‘subjected to intervention, in- 11 cluding intervention’’ and inserting ‘‘designed to access 12 subsurface heat, including nonstimulation technologies,’’. 13 (b) PROGRAMS.—Section 615(b) of the Energy Inde- 14 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17194(b)) 15 is amended— 16 (1) in paragraph (1)— 17 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 18 ‘‘mapping’’ and inserting ‘‘and fracture map- 19 ping, including real-time modeling’’; 20 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking 21 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 22 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 23 subparagraph (K); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2657 RS (D) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 1 the following: 2 ‘‘(F) well placement and orientation; 3 ‘‘(G) long-term reservoir management; 4 ‘‘(H) drilling technologies, methods, and 5 tools; 6 ‘‘(I) improved exploration tools; 7 ‘‘(J) zonal isolation; and’’; and 8 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 9 following: 10 ‘‘(2) FRONTIER OBSERVATORIES FOR RE- 11 SEARCH IN GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.— 12 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall sup- 13 port 2 field research sites operated by public or 14 academic entities, which shall each be known as 15 a ‘Frontier Observatory for Research in Geo- 16 thermal Energy’ or ‘FORGE’ site, to develop, 17 test, and enhance techniques and tools for en- 18 hanced geothermal energy. 19 ‘‘(B) SITE SELECTION.—Of the FORGE 20 sites referred to in subparagraph (A)— 21 ‘‘(i) 1 shall be the existing research 22 site in Milford, Utah; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2657 RS ‘‘(ii) 1 shall be selected by the Sec- 1 retary through a competitive selection 2 process. 3 ‘‘(C) SITE DURATION.—The FORGE site 4 selected under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall oper- 5 ate for an initial term of not more than 7 years 6 after the date on which site preparation is com- 7 plete. 8 ‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL TERMS.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—At the end of an 10 operational term described in clause (ii), a 11 FORGE site may— 12 ‘‘(I) be transferred to the private 13 sector for further enhanced geo- 14 thermal testing; or 15 ‘‘(II) subject to appropriations 16 and a merit review by the Secretary, 17 operate for an additional term of not 18 more than 7 years. 19 ‘‘(ii) OPERATIONAL TERM DE- 20 SCRIBED.—An operational term referred to 21 in clause (i)— 22 ‘‘(I) in the case of the FORGE 23 site designated under subparagraph 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2657 RS (B)(i), is the existing operational 1 term; and 2 ‘‘(II) in the case of the FORGE 3 site selected under subparagraph 4 (B)(ii), is the initial term under sub- 5 paragraph (C) or an additional term 6 under clause (i)(II). 7 ‘‘(3) ENHANCED GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS DEM- 8 ONSTRATIONS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date 10 of enactment of the AGILE Act of 2019, the 11 Secretary, in collaboration with industry part- 12 ners and institutions of higher education, shall 13 support an initiative for demonstration of en- 14 hanced geothermal systems for power produc- 15 tion or direct use. 16 ‘‘(B) PROJECTS.— 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Under the initia- 18 tive described in subparagraph (A), not 19 less than 4 demonstration projects shall be 20 carried out in locations that are commer- 21 cially viable for enhanced geothermal sys- 22 tems development, as determined by the 23 Secretary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2657.RS S2657 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2657 RS ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—Demonstra- 1 tion projects under clause (i) shall— 2 ‘‘(I) collectively demonstrate— 3 ‘‘(aa) different geologic set- 4 tings, such as hot sedimentary 5 aquifers, layered geologic sys- 6 tems, supercritical systems, and 7 basement rock systems; and 8 ‘‘(bb) a variety of develop- 9 ment techniques, including open 10 hole and cased hole completions, 11 differing well orientations, and 12 stimulation mechanisms; 13 ‘‘(II) to the extent practicable, 14 use existing sites where subsurface 15 characterization or geothermal energy 16 integration analysis has been con- 17 ducted; and 18 ‘‘(III) each be carried out in ac- 19 cordance with section 988 of the En- 20 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 21 16352). 22 ‘‘(iii) EASTERN DEMONSTRATION.— 23 Not less than 1 demonstration project 24 under clause (i) shall be located in an are [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]