119-hr5631

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5631 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5631

To appoint a Geothermal Ombudsman and establish a Geothermal Permitting 
 Task Force from within the Bureau of Land Management, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 30, 2025

Mr. Hurd of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred 
 to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To appoint a Geothermal Ombudsman and establish a Geothermal Permitting 
 Task Force from within the Bureau of Land Management, and for other 
 purposes.

 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 Ombudsman for National 
Deployment and Optimal Reviews Act''.

SEC. 2. GEOTHERMAL OMBUDSMAN AND PERMITTING TASK FORCE.

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Geothermal authorization.--The term ``geothermal 
 authorization'' means any license, permit, approval, finding, 
 determination, or other administrative decision issued by the 
 Bureau of Land Management and any interagency consultation that 
 is required or authorized under Federal law in order to site, 
 construct, reconstruct, or commence operations of a geothermal 
 energy project administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

    (2) Geothermal energy project.--The term ``geothermal 
 energy project'' means a project wholly or partially located on 
 public land that uses geothermal energy to generate heat or 
 electricity.

    (3) Public land.--The term ``public land'' means lands 
 subject to geothermal leasing under 

section 3 of the Geothermal 
 Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1002).

    (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
 of the Interior.

    (5) Task force.--The term ``Task Force'' means the 
 Geothermal Permitting Task Force established under subsection
            (c) .

    (b) Geothermal Ombudsman.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall appoint from within 
 the Bureau of Land Management a Geothermal Ombudsman.

    (2) Duties.--The Geothermal Ombudsman appointed under 
 paragraph

    (1) shall--
        (A) act as a liaison between--
            (i) the individual field, district, and 
 State offices of the Bureau of Land Management;
            (ii) the Division Chief of the National 
 Renewable Energy Coordination Office of the 
 Bureau of Land Management; and
            (iii) the Director of the Bureau of Land 
 Management;
        (B) provide dispute resolution services between the 
 individual field, district, and State offices of the 
 Bureau of Land Management and applicants for geothermal 
 authorizations;
            (C) monitor and facilitate permit processing 
 practices and timelines across individual field offices 
 of the Bureau of Land Management;
            (D) develop best practices for the permitting and 
 leasing process for geothermal resources; and
        (E) coordinate with the Federal Permitting 
 Improvement Steering Council.
            (c) Geothermal Permitting Task Force.--

    (1) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish within 
 the Bureau of Land Management a Geothermal Permitting Task 
 Force.

    (2) Leadership.--The Task Force shall be headed by the 
 Geothermal Ombudsman appointed under subsection

    (b) .

    (3) Permitting support.--The Task Force shall support the 
 duties of the Geothermal Ombudsman appointed under subsection

    (b) .

    (4) Cross-office personnel assignments.--
        (A) In general.--In their capacity as head of the 
 Task Force, the Geothermal Ombudsman may assign 
 personnel from any Departmental bureaus and offices 
 with relevant expertise to assist with completion of 
 geothermal authorizations in field, district, or State 
 offices other than the official duty station where such 
 personnel are located if--
            (i) the Geothermal Ombudsman determines 
 that such assignment will not materially delay 
 ongoing completion of authorizations within the 
 office where the employee is located; and
            (ii) the Geothermal Ombudsman receives 
 approval from the head of the official duty 
 station where the assigned employee is located.
        (B) Assigned personnel requirements.--Department 
 personnel assigned to assist with completion of 
 geothermal authorizations under subparagraph
        (A) shall--
            (i) work in-person full-time at an official 
 Department office;
            (ii) if necessary as determined by the 
 Geothermal Ombudsman, travel to the Bureau of 
 Land Management field, district, or State 
 office with jurisdiction over the geothermal 
 authorization to which the employee has been 
 assigned by the Geothermal Ombudsman;
            (iii) participate as part of the team of 
 personnel working on geothermal authorizations 
 to which the employee has been assigned by the 
 Geothermal Ombudsman; and
            (iv) regularly report to the head of the 
 field, district, or State office of the Bureau 
 of Land Management with jurisdiction over 
 geothermal authorizations to which the employee 
 has been assigned by the Geothermal Ombudsman.
            (C) Retention allowances.--
            (i) In general.--Subject to the 
 availability of appropriations, the Geothermal 
 Ombudsman may pay a retention allowance to an 
 employee assigned to assist with the completion 
 of geothermal authorizations under subparagraph
        (A) . Retention allowances--
            (I) shall be stated as the 
 percentage of the rate of basic pay of 
 an employee, and may not exceed 25 
 percent of such rate of basic pay;
            (II) may not be considered to be 
 part of the basic pay of an employee, 
 and the reduction or elimination of a 
 retention allowance may not be 
 appealed; and
            (III) shall be paid at the same 
 time and in the same manner as the 
 employee's basic pay is paid.
            (ii) Considerations.--In exercising the 
 retention allowance authority described in 
 clause
            (i) , the Geothermal Ombudsman shall 
 consider--
            (I) an employee's specialized 
 expertise related to geothermal 
 authorizations;
            (II) the demonstrated need to 
 retain an employee to meet the 
 performance improvement objectives for 
 geothermal authorization timelines and 
 develop best practices for completion 
 of geothermal authorizations; and
            (III) the difficulty in recruiting 
 or replacing qualified personnel with 
 relevant expertise related to 
 geothermal authorizations.
            (D) Savings clause.--Cross-office personnel 
 assignments carried out under this paragraph shall not 
 alter the underlying jurisdiction of other offices of 
 the Bureau of Land Management over applicable 
 geothermal authorizations.
            (d) Report.--The Geothermal Ombudsman shall submit to the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives an annual report that 
describes the activities of the Task Force and evaluates the 
effectiveness of geothermal permit processing during the preceding 1-
year period.
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