House panel to examine bill promoting leases on federal land

E&E News
By Jessica Estepa
July 28, 2014

A House Natural Resources subcommittee will discuss bipartisan legislation tomorrow that would require the establishment of leasing areas for wind and solar energy on federal land.

The bill, H.R. 596, would also establish a royalty system meant to be fair to taxpayers while encouraging development. It also specifies how the royalties will be disbursed.

The idea gets the government "out of the way" in order to streamline permitting for such projects, in turn spurring both energy production and job creation, sponsors said when they released the measure last year.

"Arizona can be a model for energy-driven economic recovery in this country, but bureaucratic red tape has gotten in the way," lead sponsor Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) said in a statement when he introduced the measure (Greenwire, Feb. 11, 2013).

The bill has 59 House co-sponsors. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

The Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee will also tackle two other measures dealing with geothermal production.

The first, Idaho Republican Raúl Labrador's H.R. 1363, would exempt certain geothermal exploration from National Environmental Policy Act requirements.

The exemptions -- essentially removing the need to do environmental impact statements -- would apply to "geothermal exploration test projects." The drillings would have to meet a number of requirements, including being completed in less than 45 days and can be no deeper than 2,500 feet or less than 8 inches in diameter.

As with other measures that have proposed removing NEPA requirements, the Obama administration is likely to object to the exemptions.

Additionally, the committee will examine H.R. 2004, from Reps. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and Peter DeFazio (R-Ore.), which would expand geothermal production on public lands. Its Senate companion, S. 363, was passed by the upper chamber earlier this month (E&E Daily, July 10).

Schedule: The hearing is Tuesday, July 29, at 10 a.m. in 1334 Longworth.

Witnesses: Michael Nedd, assistant director of minerals and realty management, Bureau of Land Management; D.L. Wilson, chairman of La Paz Board of Supervisors, National Association of Counties; Scott Nichols, manager of permitting and lands, U.S. Geothermal Inc.; Arthur Haubenstock, chairman of the solar power division at the Solar Energy Industries Association; Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited; Eric Fitzer, senior energy programs manager in the Arizona Governor's Office of Energy Policy; and Chase Huntley, senior director for energy at the Wilderness Society.