Press Releases

H.R. 301, the Geothermal Energy Opportunity (GEO) Act 
Sponsor: Chair Celeste Maloy (UT-02)
Co-sponsors: Executive Vice Chair Nick Begich (AK-AL), Lee (NV-03), Harder (CA-09), Vice Chair Pete Stauber (MN-08), McDowell (NC-06), Fulcher (ID-01)
Summary: This bill establishes a 60-day deadline for the Department of the Interior (DOI) to approve or deny a geothermal lease after they have completed all relevant legal and regulatory reviews. This provides a consistent timeline to geothermal companies who seek to develop federal lands and prevents leases from being held up by DOI due to pending lawsuits.
 
H.R. 2252, the North Dakota Trust Lands Completion Act
Sponsor: Representative Julie Fedorchak (ND-AL)
Summary: Over a century of disjointed federal, state, and tribal land policy in North Dakota resulted in some parcels of state-owned land being located nearly or entirely within Native American reservations. This bill allows North Dakota to transfer those lands to the federal government to be placed into a trust for the affected tribe, in exchange for federal lands elsewhere in North Dakota. 
 
H.R. 2709, the Save Our Sequoias (SOS) Act
Sponsor: Representative Vince Fong (CA-20)
Co-sponsors: Peters (CA-50), Costa (CA-21), Vice Chair Bruce Westerman (AR-04), Webster (FL-11), Panetta (CA-19), Chairman Emeritus Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Garamendi (CA-08), Valadao (CA-22), Bishop (GA-02), Correa (CA-46), Kim (CA-40), Rutherford (FL-05), Harder (CA-09), Vice Chair Jay Obernolte (CA-23), Golden (ME-02), McClintock (CA-05), Vargas (CA-52), Kiley (CA-03), Bera (CA-06), Calvert (CA-41), Horsford (NV-04), Issa (CA-48), Vice Chair Cliff Bentz (OR-02), Fulcher (ID-01), Moore (UT-01), Lee (NV-03), Fleischmann (TN-03), Gray (CA-13)
Summary: In the past four years, one-fifth of California’s iconic Giant Sequoia trees have been lost to forest fires. This legislation would codify existing emergency regulations within the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service to proactively manage the land around the trees. To better coordinate efforts between federal, state, and local authorities, the legislation would also officially establish the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition, which is an existing volunteer organization which already performs this work. The bill would also provide grants and facilitate private donations for Giant Sequoia forest management and expedite federal environmental reviews for these forests.
 
H.R. 2768, the Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail Feasibility Study Act
Sponsor: Representative Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03)
Co-sponsors: Cohen (TN-09), Edwards (NC-11), McBath (GA-06)
Summary: This legislation would require the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a feasibility study on designating the Benton MacKaye Trail as twelfth National Scenic Trail. The roughly 287-mile trail runs through Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, much of it on federal land, and the bill directs the study to evaluate its eligibility under the National Trails System Act. Designation as a National Scenic Trail would attract significant tourism to locations along the trail in the three states.
 
H.R. 4684, the Star-Spangled Summit Act
Sponsor: Representative Mike Kennedy (UT-03)
Summary: In keeping with a more than two-decade old local tradition, this bill requires the U.S. Forest Service to issue a special use permit for an American flag to be flown atop Kyhv Peak above Provo, Utah. This annual display had been ongoing from 2000, until local U.S. Forest Service personnel stopped the flag display in 2022, because the scout troop hadn't received a permit.
 
H.R. 5576, the Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act
Sponsor: Representative Russ Fulcher (ID-01)
Co-sponsors: Chair Celeste Maloy (UT-02), Kennedy (UT-03), Executive Vice Chair Nick Begich (AK-AL)
Summary: This bill exempts the drilling of geothermal exploratory wells on federal lands from the environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which significantly cuts down the timeline for project development. These exploratory projects have small environmental footprints, and the exemption of exploratory projects does not exempt geothermal developers from the NEPA process if they decide to commercially develop the land. The bill also directs the Secretaries of the Interior and Energy to designate eligible federal lands as “geothermal leasing priority areas,” which would prioritize and expedite federal permitting through those agencies.
 
H.R. 5631, the Geothermal Ombudsman for National Deployment and Optimal Reviews Act
Sponsor: Vice Chair Jeff Hurd (CO-03)
Summary: As geothermal energy continues to grow and develop across federal lands, further coordination between agencies is necessary to develop best practices for permitting and leasing. This bill creates a Geothermal Ombudsman role within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to act as a liaison between the BLM Director, applicable BLM field offices, and the National Renewable Energy Coordination Office.
 
H.R. 5638, the Geothermal Royalty Reform Act
Sponsor: Representative Mike Kennedy (UT-03)
Co-sponsors: Executive Vice Chair Nick Begich (AK-AL)
Summary: Under current law, federal royalties from geothermal power production is charged based on the amount of electricity produced by an entire geothermal lease, not by individual generating facilities, deterring new plants from being built on existing leases. This bill ensures that royalties are charged per facility, ensuring new plants on existing leases receive the initial ten-year reduced royalty rate.
 
H.R. 5682, To take certain land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Pechanga Band of Indians, and for other purposes
Sponsor: Representative Darrell Issa (CA-48)
Summary: This legislation would initiate the transfer of approximately 1,261 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in Riverside County, California, into trust for the Pechanga Band of Indians. These lands include sacred sites, wildlife corridors, and open space that are integral to the Tribe’s identity and traditional practices.