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House Bill 7422
118th Congress(2023-2024)
Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2024
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Passed House on Sep 24, 2024
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H. R. 7422 (Reported-in-House)

Union Calendar No. 566

118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7422

[Report No. 118–670]


To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to provide cost-recovery authority for the Department of the Interior.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 20, 2024

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

September 12, 2024

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 20, 2024]

A BILL

To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to provide cost-recovery authority for the Department of the Interior.

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 “Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2024”.

SEC. 2. Cost recovery from geothermal leasing and permitting.

Section 6 of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1005) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(j) Cost recovery.—

“(1) IN GENERAL.—During the period that begins on the date of enactment of this subsection and ends September 30, 2031, the Secretary may require a holder of a geothermal lease to reimburse the United States for all reasonable administrative and other costs incurred by the United States from—

“(A) processing the application for the geothermal lease, including any application for an operations plan, geothermal drilling permit, utilization plan, site license, facility construction permit, commercial use permit, and any other approval associated with a geothermal lease; and

“(B) monitoring—

“(i) geophysical exploration operations;

“(ii) the drilling, plugging, and abandonment of wells; and

“(iii) the construction, operation, termination, and reclamation of any well site or facility for the utilization of geothermal resources pursuant to the geothermal lease.

“(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining whether to require reimbursement under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider whether there is in existence a contributed funds agreement between the United States and the holder of a geothermal lease.

“(3) ADJUSTMENTS.—The Secretary may reduce the amount to be reimbursed under paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines—

“(A) that full reimbursement would impose an economic hardship on the holder of the geothermal lease; or

“(B) that a less than full reimbursement is necessary to promote the greatest use of geothermal resources.

“(4) USE.—The amounts reimbursed under this subsection shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior for expenditure for—

“(A) processing the application for the geothermal lease, including any application for an operations plan, geothermal drilling permit, utilization plan, site license, facility construction permit, commercial use permit, and any other approval associated with a geothermal lease; and

“(B) monitoring—

“(i) geophysical exploration operations;

“(ii) the drilling, plugging, and abandonment of wells; and

“(iii) the construction, operation, termination, and reclamation of any well site or facility for the utilization of geothermal resources pursuant to the geothermal lease.”.

SEC. 3. Report.

(a) Report.—Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, and make publicly available on the website of the Department of the Interior, a report that includes—

(1) an assessment of how the amendments made by section 2 of this Act affected the Bureau of Land Management’s geothermal program, including the accomplishments of each field office relating to the coordination and processing of geothermal permits and any other approval associated with a geothermal lease;

(2) any recommendations for reauthorization of section 6(j) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, as added by this Act; and

(3) any other recommendations for updates to such section and the Bureau of Land Management’s geothermal program.

(b) Considerations.—In developing the report required in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Interior shall solicit facts or information from the geothermal industry and other stakeholders.

Union Calendar No. 566

118th CONGRESS
     2d Session
H. R. 7422
[Report No. 118–670]
A BILL
To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to provide cost-recovery authority for the Department of the Interior.
September 12, 2024
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed