Sponsors (3)
The bill accelerates and simplifies geothermal development—boosting project starts and preserving royalty revenue—by relying more on State permitting, but it does so by reducing federal environmental and cultural reviews and shifting oversight to states, which raises ecological, heritage, and equity risks.
Operators and energy companies (including utilities and small energy developers) can begin eligible geothermal exploration and production within 30 days after submitting a State permit and rely on State permitting in many cases, speeding project starts and reducing duplicative federal permitting delays and paperwork.
The Federal government maintains royalty payments on geothermal production, preserving federal revenue from new development.
The Department of the Interior retains authority to inspect sites to ensure accurate production reporting and accountability for royalty payments, providing a federal compliance check.
Many qualifying geothermal projects are exempted from NEPA major federal action review, reducing federal environmental review and public input for local communities and potentially accelerating projects without comprehensive environmental assessment.
The bill removes Endangered Species Act §7 consultation for qualifying projects, increasing the risk that threatened species and habitats will not receive full federal consideration before development proceeds.
Shifting permitting and review authority toward State oversight can produce uneven environmental and cultural protections across states, creating geographic disparities in safeguards and enforcement.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Removes federal drilling permit and certain federal environmental reviews for qualifying geothermal projects on non‑Federal surface estates when the U.S. owns under 50% of the subsurface and a state permit is submitted.
Bars the Department of the Interior from requiring a federal drilling permit for geothermal exploration and production on non‑Federal surface estates when the United States owns less than 50% of the underlying geothermal estate and the operator has submitted a state permit. Those projects are excluded from major Federal NEPA review, are not subject to Endangered Species Act consultations, generally may start 30 days after the state permit is submitted, and remain subject to royalty obligations and possible on‑site inspections by the Secretary. Indian lands and trust resources are explicitly excluded from the rule.
Introduced September 26, 2025 by Young Kim · Last progress April 28, 2026