H.R. 5576 — Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act

This section excludes geothermal exploration projects and covered activities on federal geothermal leases from being considered major Federal actions under §102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (i.e., those requiring an environmental impact statement). (A geothermal exploration project entails drilling a temperature gradient, monitoring, calibration, or other exploratory well by the leaseholder, with casing under 13 3/8 inches outer diameter, unreclaimed surface disturbance under 8 acres excluding roads, completion in under 180 days, and site restoration within 3 years unless converted to energy development; covered activities include geotechnical investigations, off-road travel in specified rights-of-way, and access road construction or maintenance for geothermal exploration, development, or production.) The leaseholder must provide the Interior Secretary at least 30 days' notice before starting project drilling. (Thus, these activities are categorically excluded from full NEPA review.)

This section amends the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 by adding a new section 31 to require the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, to designate portions of covered federal land (i.e., federal land not excluded from geothermal development under land use plans established pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 [FLPMA] or other federal law) as geothermal leasing priority areas as soon as practicable but not later than three years after enactment. In selecting areas, the Secretary must consider whether the land is preferable for geothermal leasing, production is economically viable (including access to energy transmission), and the designation complies with FLPMA section 202 (43 U.S.C. 1712), including subsection (c)(9) on coordination of land use planning with other federal, state, local, and tribal programs. The section further requires the Secretary to review covered land and designated priority areas, adding or removing designations as appropriate, at least once every five years; to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) supplement for initial designations within one year (with subsequent designations covered in an EIS or supplement, developed via ongoing consultations with states, tribes, localities, transmission operators, developers, and others) without delaying permits or lease sales; and to limit additional National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis for lease sales in designated areas—none required for 10 years unless substantial new circumstances arise, and none thereafter if the original analysis is reevaluated as valid. (Thus, the provision prioritizes and streamlines geothermal leasing on suitable federal lands while ensuring FLPMA and NEPA compliance.)

This section states congressional findings that (1) pursuant to section 109 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4336c), as amended by section 321(b) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (Public Law 118–5), the Bureau of Land Management announced on April 15, 2024, its adoption of categorical exclusions from the Department of the Navy and the United States Forest Service for geothermal exploration; and (2) appropriate use of these categorical exclusions is expected to expedite review and approval of geothermal exploration proposals on Bureau of Land Management lands.