119-hr398

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 398 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 398

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

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 14, 2025

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

_______________________________________________________________________

 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 2025''.

SEC. 2. COST RECOVERY FROM GEOTHERMAL LEASING, PERMITTING, AND 
 INSPECTIONS.

 

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, 
 2032, the Secretary may require an applicant for, or 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) inspecting and monitoring--
 ``
            (i) geophysical exploration activities;
 ``
            (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 cooperative cost share 
 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 applicant; 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 credited to the currently applicable appropriation, 
 account, or fund of the Department of the Interior as 
 discretionary offsetting collections, and shall be available 
 only to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts 
 for--
 ``
        (A) processing the application for geothermal 
 leases, including any application for operations plans, 
 geothermal drilling permits, utilization plans, site 
 licenses, facility construction permits, commercial use 
 permits, and any other approval associated with 
 geothermal leases; and
 ``
        (B) inspecting and monitoring--
 ``
            (i) geophysical exploration activities;
 ``
            (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 geothermal leases.''.

SEC. 3. REPORT.

    (a) Report.--Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the 
geothermal industry and other stakeholders, 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;

    (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.
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