Sponsors
The bill shifts more permit-processing costs to developers and creates a formal review process to improve geothermal leasing and transparency, trading higher short-term costs and some operational uncertainty for potentially faster permitting and better long-term program improvements.
Utilities, energy developers, small geothermal businesses, and rural communities get faster and better-resourced permitting and monitoring because fees are tied to actual processing costs and some fee revenue can support DOI/BLM permit work.
Industry participants and the public gain a formal 5-year evaluation that will produce targeted recommendations and public reporting to improve BLM geothermal leasing and program operations, increasing transparency and oversight.
Consultation with industry and stakeholders is likely to yield practical, implementable policy changes that could speed geothermal project permitting and deployment.
Utilities and small geothermal developers will face higher upfront fees and processing costs, increasing project development expenses and potentially deterring new projects.
Collected reimbursements are treated as discretionary offsetting collections and usable only if appropriations Acts provide in advance, creating uncertainty about DOI/BLM's ability to actually deploy fee revenue for processing or monitoring.
Heavy reliance on industry consultation for the 5-year review risks biasing recommendations toward industry priorities rather than broader public interests.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 14, 2025 by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez · Last progress January 14, 2025
Authorizes the Department of the Interior to require applicants for or holders of geothermal leases to reimburse the federal government for reasonable costs to process lease-related applications and to inspect and monitor geothermal exploration, drilling, construction, operations, and site reclamation. The cost-recovery authority is in effect from enactment through September 30, 2032, allows the Secretary to reduce fees for economic hardship or to promote resource use, and directs reimbursed amounts to be credited to Interior accounts as offsetting collections available only if appropriated. The Secretary must produce a public report within five years evaluating effects of the cost-recovery authority and recommending whether to reauthorize or change the policy.