Sponsors (2)
The bill promotes faster, more predictable geothermal development and clearer environmental safeguards through standardized federal guidance, but centralizing rules risks reducing local/tribal flexibility, raising compliance costs, and inviting legal challenges.
Geothermal developers and utilities will have clearer, standardized permitting rules and a consistent federal framework that can speed project approvals and improve predictability for project planning and lease sales.
Rural communities and regulators will benefit from standard guidance that embeds best environmental practices across exploration, construction, and production, reducing environmental risks from projects.
BLM field offices and state/local regulators will gain a consistent framework for land use planning and lease sales, improving administrative predictability and coordination across jurisdictions.
State and local governments, tribal communities, and some local stakeholders may lose flexibility because a federal template could override or conflict with local or tribal land‑use priorities.
Utilities, developers, and taxpayers could face higher compliance costs and slower timelines if the standardized guidance tightens requirements or adds new obligations.
Developers and local agencies could face legal uncertainty and delays if broad categorical exclusions in the guidance are disputed and prompt judicial appeals.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires Interior to produce and regularly update a publicly available "Gold Book" of standard procedures and guidelines for geothermal leasing and permitting on federal lands.
Introduced September 30, 2025 by Yassamin Ansari · Last progress September 30, 2025
Requires the Department of the Interior to create and maintain a publicly available "Gold Book" of standard procedures and guidelines for geothermal leasing and permitting on federal lands. The Gold Book must be developed in consultation with other federal agencies and outside stakeholders, published on a set timeline, include specific topics from land use planning through production and appeals, and be reviewed at least once every five years for updates.