Union Calendar No. 561
116th CONGRESS 2d Session |
[Report No. 116–677, Part I]
To promote the development of renewable energy on public lands, and for other purposes.
July 17, 2019
Mr. Gosar (for himself, Mr. Levin of California, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Tipton, Mr. Amodei, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Biggs, Mr. Bishop of Utah, Mr. Cartwright, Ms. DelBene, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Gaetz, Ms. Haaland, Mr. Luján, Mr. Newhouse, Mr. Schweikert, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Stauber, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Young, Mr. Cook, Mr. Marshall, and Mr. Gianforte) 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 Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
December 18, 2020
Additional sponsors: Mr. Case, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Van Drew, Ms. Torres Small of New Mexico, Mr. Kildee, Ms. Titus, Mr. Westerman, Mr. Ruiz, Mrs. Lesko, Mr. Watkins, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Neal, Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. Bacon, Ms. Slotkin, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Foster, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Rouda, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Peters, Mr. Lamborn, Ms. Brownley of California, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kind, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Kim, Mr. Cox of California, Mr. Keating, Mr. Crow, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Cooper, Mr. McAdams, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Sablan, Mr. McEachin, Mr. Costa, Mr. Sires, Mr. Posey, Mr. Katko, Mrs. Napolitano, and Mrs. Beatty
December 18, 2020
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
December 18, 2020
Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 17, 2019]
To promote the development of renewable energy on public lands, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2019”.
The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Land use planning; supplements to programmatic environmental impact statements.
Sec. 5. Environmental review on covered land.
Sec. 6. Program to improve renewable energy project permit coordination.
Sec. 7. Increasing economic certainty.
Sec. 8. Limited grandfathering.
Sec. 9. Renewable energy goal.
Sec. 10. Disposition of revenues.
Sec. 11. Promoting and enhancing development of geothermal energy.
Sec. 12. Facilitation of coproduction of geothermal energy on oil and gas leases.
Sec. 13. Noncompetitive leasing of adjoining areas for development of geothermal resources.
Sec. 14. Savings clause.
In this Act:
(1) COVERED LAND.—The term “covered land” means land that is—
(B) not excluded from the development of geothermal, solar, or wind energy under—
(i) a land use plan established under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or
(2) EXCLUSION AREA.—The term “exclusion area” means covered land that is identified by the Bureau of Land Management as not suitable for development of renewable energy projects.
(3) FEDERAL LAND.—The term “Federal land” means—
(A) land of the National Forest System (as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))); or
(4) FUND.—The term “Fund” means the Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund established by section 10(c)(1).
(5) PRIORITY AREA.—The term “priority area” means covered land identified by the land use planning process of the Bureau of Land Management as being a preferred location for a renewable energy project, including a designated leasing area (as defined in section 2801.5(b) of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)) that is identified under the rule of the Bureau of Land Management entitled “Competitive Processes, Terms, and Conditions for Leasing Public Lands for Solar and Wind Energy Development and Technical Changes and Corrections” (81 Fed. Reg. 92122 (December 19, 2016)) (or a successor regulation).
(6) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term “public lands” has the meaning given that term in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702).
(7) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT.—The term “renewable energy project” means a project carried out on covered land that uses wind, solar, or geothermal energy to generate energy.
(9) VARIANCE AREA.—The term “variance area” means covered land that is—
(C) identified by the Secretary as potentially available for renewable energy development and could be approved without a plan amendment, consistent with the principles of multiple use (as that term is defined in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)).
(a) Priority areas.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall establish priority areas on covered land for geothermal, solar, and wind energy projects. Projects located in those priority areas shall be given the highest priority for review, and shall be offered the opportunity to participate in any regional mitigation plan developed for the relevant priority areas.
(2) DEADLINE.—
(A) GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.—For geothermal energy, the Secretary shall establish priority areas as soon as practicable, but not later than 5 years, after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(B) SOLAR ENERGY.—For solar energy, solar Designated Leasing Areas, including the solar energy zones established by the 2012 western solar plan of the Bureau of Land Management and any subsequent land use plan amendments, shall be considered to be priority areas for solar energy projects. The Secretary shall establish additional solar priority areas as soon as practicable, but not later than 3 years, after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Variance areas.—To the maximum extent practicable, variance areas shall be considered for renewable energy project development, consistent with the principles of multiple use (as defined in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)).
(c) Review and modification.—Not less than once every 5 years, the Secretary shall—
(d) Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.—For purposes of this section, compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be accomplished—
(1) for geothermal energy, by supplementing the October 2008 final programmatic environmental impact statement for geothermal leasing in the Western United States and incorporating any additional regional analyses that have been completed by Federal agencies since the programmatic environmental impact statement was finalized;
(2) for solar energy, by supplementing the July 2012 final programmatic environmental impact statement for solar energy development and incorporating any additional regional analyses that have been completed by Federal agencies since the programmatic environmental impact statement was finalized; and
(e) No effect on processing applications.—Any requirements to prepare a supplement to a programmatic environmental impact statement under this section shall not result in any delay in processing a pending application for a renewable energy project.
(f) Coordination.—In developing a supplement required by this section, the Secretary shall coordinate, on an ongoing basis, with appropriate State, Tribal, and local governments, transmission infrastructure owners and operators, developers, and other appropriate entities to ensure that priority areas identified by the Secretary are—
(2) likely to avoid or minimize impacts to habitat for animals and plants, recreation, cultural resources, and other uses of covered land; and
(3) consistent with section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712), including subsection (c)(9) of that section (43 U.S.C. 1712(c)(9)).
(a) In general.—If the Secretary determines that a proposed renewable energy project has been sufficiently analyzed by a programmatic environmental impact statement conducted under section 4(d), the Secretary shall not require any additional review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The Secretary shall publish any such project determinations on a publicly available website.
(b) Additional environmental review.—If the Secretary determines that additional environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) is necessary for a proposed renewable energy project, the Secretary shall rely on the analysis in the programmatic environmental impact statement conducted under section 4(d), to the maximum extent practicable when analyzing the potential impacts of the project.
(a) Establishment.—The Secretary shall establish a national Renewable Energy Coordination Office and State, district, or field offices with responsibility to establish and implement a program to improve Federal permit coordination with respect to renewable energy projects on covered land and other activities deemed necessary by the Secretary. In carrying out the program, the Secretary may temporarily assign qualified staff to Renewable Energy Coordination Offices to expedite the permitting of renewable energy projects.
(b) Memorandum of understanding.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for purposes of this section, including to specifically expedite the environmental analysis of applications for projects proposed in a variance area or a priority area, with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Agriculture.
(2) STATE AND TRIBAL PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary may request the Governor of any interested State or any Tribal leader of any interested Indian Tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) to be a signatory to the memorandum of understanding under paragraph (1).
(c) Designation of qualified staff.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which the memorandum of understanding under subsection (b) is executed, all Federal signatories, as appropriate, shall identify for each of the Bureau of Land Management Renewable Energy Coordination Offices one or more employees who have expertise in the regulatory issues relating to the office in which the employee is employed, including, as applicable, particular expertise in—
(A) consultation regarding, and preparation of, biological opinions under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536);
(B) permits under section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344);
(C) regulatory matters under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.);
(D) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
(E) the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.);
(F) the preparation of analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.);
(G) implementation of the requirements of section 306108 of title 54, United States Code (formerly known as section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act);
(H) planning under section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a);
(I) the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668–668d); and
(d) Additional personnel.—The Secretary may assign such additional personnel for the Bureau of Land Management Renewable Energy Coordination Offices as are necessary to ensure the effective implementation of any programs administered by the offices in accordance with the multiple use mandate of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
(e) Clarification of existing authority.—Under section 307 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1737), the Bureau of Land Management may—
(f) Report to Congress.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act, and each February 1 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report describing the progress made under the program established under subsection (a) during the preceding year.
(a) Considerations.—The Secretary is authorized to and shall consider acreage rental rates, capacity fees, and other recurring annual fees in total when evaluating existing rates paid for the use of Federal land by renewable energy projects.
(b) Increases in base rental rates.—Once a base rental rate is established upon the issuance of a right-of-way authorization, increases in the base rent shall be limited to the Implicit Price Deflator–Gross Domestic Product (IPD–GDP) index for the entire term of the right-of-way authorization.
(c) Reductions in base rental rates.—The Secretary is authorized to reduce acreage rental rates and capacity fees, or both, for existing and new wind and solar authorizations if the Secretary determines—
(2) that a reduced rental rate or capacity fee is necessary to promote the greatest use of wind and solar energy resources, especially those resources inside priority areas. Rental rates and capacity fees for projects that are within the boundaries of a Designated Leasing Area but not formally recognized as being in such an area shall be equivalent to rents and fees for new leases inside of a Designated Leasing Area.
(a) Definition of project.—In this section, the term “project” means a system described in section 2801.9(a)(4) of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act).
(b) Requirement To pay rents and fees.—Unless otherwise agreed to by the owner of a project, the owner of a project that applied for a right-of-way under section 501 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) on or before December 19, 2016, shall be obligated to pay with respect to the right-of-way all rents and fees in effect before the effective date of the rule of the Bureau of Land Management entitled “Competitive Processes, Terms, and Conditions for Leasing Public Lands for Solar and Wind Energy Development and Technical Changes and Corrections” (81 Fed. Reg. 92122 (December 19, 2016)).
The Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall seek to issue permits that, in total, authorize production of not less than 25 gigawatts of electricity from wind, solar, and geothermal energy projects by not later than 2025, through management of public lands and administration of Federal laws.
(a) Disposition of revenues.—Beginning on January 1, 2020, of the amounts collected as bonus bids, rentals, fees, or other payments under a right-of-way, permit, lease, or other authorization (other than under section 504(g) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1764(g))) for the development of wind or solar energy on covered land or National Forest System land, the following shall be made available without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation as follows:
(1) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to the State within the boundaries of which the revenue is derived.
(2) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to the one or more counties within the boundaries of which the revenue is derived, to be allocated among the counties based on the percentage of land from which the revenue is derived.
(3) Fifteen percent shall be deposited in the Treasury and be made available to the Secretary to carry out the program established under this Act, including the transfer of the funds by the Bureau of Land Management to other Federal agencies and State agencies to facilitate the processing of renewable energy permits on Federal land, with priority given to using the amounts, to the maximum extent practicable without detrimental impacts to emerging markets, to expediting the issuance of permits required for the development of renewable energy projects in the States from which the revenues are derived.
(b) Payments to States and counties.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts paid to States and counties under subsection (a) shall be used consistent with section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191).
(2) PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF TAXES.—A payment to a county under paragraph (1) shall be in addition to a payment in lieu of taxes received by the county under chapter 69 of title 31, United States Code.
(c) Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Treasury a fund to be known as the Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund, which shall be administered by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture.
(2) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may make amounts in the Fund available to Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies to be distributed in regions in which renewable energy projects are located on Federal land, for the purposes of—
(3) RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS.—No funds made available under this subsection may be used for the purchase of real property unless in fulfillment of paragraph (2)(B).
(4) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with State and Tribal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other appropriate entities to carry out the activities described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2).
(5) INVESTMENT OF FUND.—
(6) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—At the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall report to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate—
(a) In general.—Section 234(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15873(a)) is amended by striking “in the first 5 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment of this Act” and inserting “through fiscal year 2022”.
(b) Authorization.—Section 234(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15873(b)) is amended—
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(2) AUTHORIZATION.—Effective for fiscal year 2019 and each fiscal year thereafter, amounts deposited under subsection (a) shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior for expenditure, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to implement the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) and this Act.”.
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) LAND SUBJECT TO OIL AND GAS LEASE.—Land under an oil and gas lease issued pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) that is subject to an approved application for permit to drill and from which oil and gas production is occurring may be available for noncompetitive leasing under subsection (c) by the holder of the oil and gas lease—
Section 4(b) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(5) 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) 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.
“(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—
“(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—
“(C) DETERMINATION OF FAIR MARKET VALUE.—
“(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall—
“(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;
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Secretary shall continue to manage public lands under the principles of multiple use and sustained yield in accordance with title I of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), including due consideration of mineral and nonrenewable energy-related projects and other nonrenewable energy uses, for the purposes of land use planning, permit processing, and conducting environmental reviews.
Union Calendar No. 561 | |||||
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[Report No. 116–677, Part I] | |||||
A BILL | |||||
To promote the development of renewable energy on public lands, and for other purposes. | |||||
December 18, 2020 | |||||
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment | |||||
December 18, 2020 | |||||
Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed |