12/16/2025 at 10:15AM
On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at 10:15 a.m., in room 1334 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, will hold a legislative hearing on nine pieces of geothermal legislation.
Bills:
- H.R. 301 (Rep. Maloy), “Geothermal Energy Opportunity Act” or the “GEO Act”
- H.R. 398 (Rep. Ocasio-Cortez), “Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2025”
- H.R. 1077 (Rep. Lee), “Streamlining Thermal Energy through Advanced Mechanisms Act” or the “STEAM Act”
- H.R. 1687 (Rep. Fulcher), “Committing Leases for Energy Access Now Act” or the “CLEAN Act”
- H.R. 5576 (Rep. Fulcher), “Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act”
- H.R. 5587 (Rep. Kim), “Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act” or the “HEATS Act”
- H.R. 5617 (Rep. Ansari), “Geothermal Gold Book Development Act”
- H.R. 5631 (Rep. Hurd), “Geothermal Ombudsman for National Deployment and Optimal Reviews Act”
- H.R. 5638 (Rep. Kennedy of UT), “Geothermal Royalty Reform Act”
Witnesses:
Panel I (Members of Congress)
- To Be Announced
Panel II (Administration Witness)
- Mr. Jon Raby, Nevada State Director, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, Reno, NV [All Bills]
Panel III (Outside Experts)
- Tim Latimer, Co-Founder and CEO, Fervo Energy, Houston, TX [H.R. 301, H.R. 1077, H.R. 5587 and H.R. 5631]
- Paul Thomsen, Vice President of Business Development, Ormat Technologies, Inc., Reno, NV [H.R. 301, H.R. 5638]
- Dr. Bryant Jones, Executive Director, Geothermal Rising, Boise, ID [All Bills]
- Dr. Kerry Rohrmeier, Nevada Climate and Energy Strategy Director, The Nature Conservancy, Reno, NV [All Bills] [Minority Witness]
Geothermal power is a baseload renewable energy resource derived by capturing heat from an underground water reservoir or from naturally occurring steam under high pressure. Geothermal energy can be used for both electricity generation and heating applications. It is abundant in the western U.S., where the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has authority over geothermal leasing on approximately 245 million acres of public lands, including 104 million acres of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands.
In 2023, geothermal power plants across seven states produced about 17 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, equal to 0.4 percent of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation. Most of the nation’s geothermal power plants are found in western states, including Hawaii, where geothermal energy resources are closer to the earth’s surface. California generates more electricity from geothermal power than any other state, while Nevada has the highest proportion of its electricity generation attributed to geothermal power.
Geothermal was the first renewable energy technology that BLM approved for production on public lands, with the first project approved in 1978. Today, 51 operating power plants produce geothermal energy from BLM-managed lands, with a combined installed capacity of more than 2.6 gigawatts (GW).
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) operates several programs that support research and development of geothermal energy resources. The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (GSA)8 directs USGS to conduct national-scale assessments of geothermal resources, the most recent of which was published in 2008. Additionally, through the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, the agency coordinates priorities with the Department of Energy (DOE) Geothermal Technologies Office to collect useful data for both critical mineral and geothermal resources. As conventional and next-generation geothermal technologies seek to reduce development costs and help meet skyrocketing domestic energy demand, reforming cumbersome leasing and permitting processes on federal lands is essential. Interest in federal lands for geothermal energy production has grown significantly in recent years. In October 2025, BLM held a lease sale in Nevada that generated a record $9.4 million in bids for 86 parcels of land. BLM held further 2025 lease sales in Utah, Oregon, Idaho, and California, highlighting the important role that federal lands can play in bolstering geothermal potential.
H.R. 301 (Rep. Maloy), “Geothermal Energy Opportunity Act” or “GEO Act”
H.R. 301 would prevent the Department of the Interior (DOI) from delaying authorized projects out of fear of litigation. Despite its November 2021 approval of the Dixie Meadows Geothermal Project in Nevada, BLM later delayed construction on the project in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s listing of the Dixie Valley toad under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). During the required Section 7 consultation under the ESA, the developer decided to reduce the project’s footprint to a single geothermal power plant with an estimated output of about 12 megawatts. In 2023, the agency announced it would conduct a third review of the project.
H.R. 301 would require DOI to process drilling permits and other authorizations within 60 days, unless a federal court vacates the underlying lease.
H.R. 398 (Rep. Ocasio-Cortez), “Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2025”
Cost recovery authority allows federal agencies to charge fees for processing applications and other documents. This authority is provided in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976(FLPMA), the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (MLA),20 and the Independent Offices Appropriation Act of 1952 (IOAA). Additionally, Section 3021(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act of 201522 directs BLM to collect a fee for processing oil and gas applications for permit to drill (APDs) from Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 through FY 2026. From FY 2006 through FY 2015, however, fees for APDs and geothermal drilling permits (GDPs) were suspended by Section 365 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct05).
H.R. 398 would explicitly authorize the DOI to charge geothermal leaseholders fees to recover costs for geothermal lease applications, GDPs, utilization plans, site licenses, facility construction permits, commercial use permits, and other approvals related to a geothermal lease, including inspection and monitoring of exploration activities, drilling and plugging of wells, as well as the construction, operation, and reclamation of well sites.
H.R. 1077 (Rep. Lee of NV), “Streamlining Thermal Energy through Advanced Mechanisms Act” or “STEAM Act”
H.R. 1077 would expedite geothermal development by amending the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to allow for a new categorical exclusion (CE) under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) for geothermal energy. Section 390 of EPAct’05 grants five different CEs for oil and gas activities. These CEs expedite the development of oil and gas projects where a well has previously been drilled on certain land, or where a field has been developed and an approved land use plan, or any environmental document prepared pursuant to NEPA requirements, found that drilling is a reasonably foreseeable activity.
H.R. 1687 (Rep. Fulcher), “Committing Leases for Energy Access Now Act” or “CLEAN Act”
The GSA requires DOI to hold “a competitive lease sale at least once every [two] years for land in a [s]tate that has nominations pending.” BLM, however, has often ignored this requirement. In California, for example, BLM failed to hold a competitive geothermal lease sale for nearly 11 years until the Trump administration held one in the summer of 2025.
H.R. 1687 would relieve geothermal leasing and permitting backlogs by amending the GSA to require the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to hold annual lease sales for geothermal energy. If a lease sale is missed for any reason, the bill would require the Secretary to hold replacement sales during the same year. The bill would also require the Secretary to respond to geothermal drilling permit applications within 30 days of receipt, informing applicants whether their applications are complete. If the Secretary determines an application is complete, then the Secretary would have an additional 30 days to issue a final decision on the application.
H.R. 5576 (Rep. Fulcher), “Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act”
The four stages of geothermal resource development within a lease are exploration, resource drilling, production, and reclamation. Each stage under the lease requires separate authorizations and NEPA compliance when ground-disturbing activities are proposed.
H.R. 5576 would exempt geothermal exploration wells (temperature gradient wells, monitoring wells, and calibration wells) from NEPA reviews. Prior to developing a geothermal facility, operators must drill exploratory wells to characterize the resource and collect data. To be eligible for the bill’s streamlining provisions, an operator must ensure that its exploration well is under 13 3/8 inches in diameter, the surface disturbance is less than 8 acres, activities are completed in 180 days, and the site will be reclaimed within three years. The bill would also exclude geotechnical investigations and road construction and maintenance (within existing rights-of-way) from NEPA.
H.R. 5587 (Rep. Kim), “Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act” or “HEATS Act”
H.R. 5587 would expedite the development of geothermal energy on non-federal lands where federal minerals are already developed. Currently, geothermal operators on non-federal land producing any quantity of federal resources must abide by all federal laws and permitting processes H.R. 5587 would exempt geothermal exploration or production wells on non-federal lands from NEPA, Section 7 of ESA, or Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) if (1) the U.S. holds an ownership interest of less than 50 percent of the subsurface geothermal estate and (2) the operator receives a drilling permit from the applicable state.
H.R. 5617 (Rep. Ansari), “Geothermal Gold Book Development Act”
DOI’s and USFS’s joint publication, “Surface Operating Standards and Guidelines for Oil and Gas Exploration and Development” (Gold Book), was developed to assist oil and gas operators by “providing information on the requirements for obtaining permit approval and conducting environmentally responsible oil and gas operations on federal lands and on private surface over [f]ederal minerals (split-estate).” The Gold Book’s contents not only inform operators but also guide BLM staff assigned to oil and gas development on federal land. Although this publication was last revised in 2007, it remains a useful supplement to other federal guidance that has been released or is planned to be released.
Despite the significant growth in geothermal operations on federal land, the BLM has yet to publish a similar book of practices for geothermal energy production. Accordingly, H.R. 5617 would direct DOI to publish a Gold Book detailing efficient and environmentally responsible geothermal leasing and permitting practices for use by BLM field offices and geothermal operators. The bill would also require DOI to review and revise the Gold Book at least once every five years. With a geothermal Gold Book, BLM staff will have improved guidance for reviewing and approving geothermal lease sales, permitting applications, and drilling and production operations.
H.R. 5631 (Rep. Hurd), “Geothermal Ombudsman for National Deployment and Optimal Reviews Act”
Reviews for GDPs, utilization plans, commercial use permits, and other geothermal authorizations are managed primarily by the BLM field offices with jurisdiction over the federal land in which a given project is located. For example, in Utah, geothermal permitting responsibilities are divided among 11 BLM field offices.
With geothermal permitting, the mechanisms that allow for collaboration between field and state offices within BLM, or between BLM and other bureaus across DOI, are limited. Instead, local field office personnel must fully process geothermal authorizations within their respective jurisdictions.
According to industry stakeholders, field office-specific processing requirements have produced significant variations in geothermal permitting outcomes. For example, developers have noted that as geothermal energy expands into new regions, some BLM field offices lack experience with key technical aspects of project development, resulting in significant delays across a range of permits and approvals. Additionally, field offices in remote jurisdictions often face greater challenges recruiting and retaining staff with requisite geothermal permitting expertise than do field offices in more populated regions.
H.R. 5631 would improve coordination by appointing a Geothermal Ombudsman (Ombudsman) from within BLM. The Ombudsman would be responsible for liaising between field offices and the BLM Director, providing dispute resolution services between field offices and applicants, monitoring permit processing, developing best practices, and coordinating with the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC).
H.R. 5638 (Rep. Kennedy of UT), “Geothermal Royalty Reform Act”
Currently, operators producing electricity from geothermal resources on federal land pay a royalty rate of at least 1 percent but not exceeding 2.5 percent of gross proceeds from the sale of electricity produced under the lease during the first 10 years of production. Thereafter, the royalty rate increases to at least 2 percent but not exceeding 5 percent of gross proceeds from electricity produced under the lease.
H.R. 5638 stipulates that geothermal facilities on the same geothermal lease are treated as separate facilities with respect to royalty payments. Under the current interpretation of the law, all facilities on the same lease must pay the same royalty rate, provided that one facility has met the time-in-service threshold for the higher royalty rate. This bill’s clarification would allow for geothermal facilities on the same lease to pay different royalties, based on each individual facility’s time in service.