[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 13] [Senate] [Pages 18468-18470] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Risch, Mr. Crapo, and Mr. Merkley): S. 3993. A bill to expand geothermal production, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my colleagues from Idaho and Oregon, Senator James Risch, Senator Mike Crapo, and Senator Jeff Merkley, in introducing the Geothermal Production Expansion Act of 2010. This legislation will amend an already existing law--the Geothermal Steam Act--governing the way the Federal Government leases public lands for the development of geothermal energy projects. Geothermal energy facilities provide a continuous supply of renewable energy with very few environmental impacts. Although the United States has more geothermal capacity than any other country, this potential has been barely tapped. This shortfall is partly due to the high initial cost and risk involved in locating and developing geothermal resources. Like oil and natural gas exploration, until exploration and production wells are actually drilled, the true energy value of the site is not known nor is the full extent of the underground reservoir or energy source. This legislation is intended to expand the future production of geothermal energy on federally-owned lands by taking some of the uncertainty and guess work out of the leasing and development process by allowing the Interior Department to issue geothermal leases for adjacent lands on a non-competitive basis, based on fair-market value. This would allow a geothermal developer to expand a successful geothermal lease without being forced into a bidding war with speculators or uncooperative competitors who might threaten project expansion or even prevent the project from reaching commercial scale. Under current law, the Department of Interior is charged with issuing geothermal energy leases through a competitive lease sale. There are, however, several situations where the Department is allowed to issue non-competitive leases, for example, if there were no competitive bids offered, or where there is an already existing mining claim, or where the geothermal energy will be used directly on site for heating or other uses and not sold as electricity. This legislation would add an additional category of non-competitive leases for lands that are immediately adjacent to an existing, competitively-awarded, geothermal lease where there is an identified, validated geothermal energy discovery. They would not just be given away to an existing lease holder. These non-competitive leases would be made at fair-market value as independently determined by the Department of Interior. They could also not be taken away from any existing lease holder, if they were already leased, nor could they be removed from competitive leasing if they had already been nominated to be competitively leased. These safeguards are intended to insure that this new non-competitive lease authority is a limited exception to the general policy of competitive leasing for geothermal resources on our public lands. At the same time, this new authority will help ensure that when and where a geothermal resource has been discovered, the project developer will be able to tap that resource and turn it into a viable, commercial energy business and provide clean, renewable energy for our country. This bill is a companion to bipartisan legislation sponsored by Representative Jay Inslee in the House of Representatives. The House Committee on Natural Resources held hearings on the underlying House bill, H.R. 3709, in February of this year. The legislation Sen. Risch and I are introducing today incorporates changes resulting from those hearings, primarily making it clear that any non-competitive leases issued under this authority would be at fair-market value. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the additional material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: S. 3993 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Geothermal Production Expansion Act of 2010''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds that-- (1) it is in the best interest of the United States to develop clean renewable geothermal energy; (2) development of that energy should be promoted on appropriate Federal land; (3) under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801 et seq.), the Bureau of Land Management is authorized to issue 3 different types of noncompetitive leases for production of geothermal energy on Federal land, including-- (A) noncompetitive geothermal leases to mining claim holders that have a valid operating plan; (B) direct use leases; and (C) leases on parcels that do not sell at a competitive auction; (4) Federal geothermal energy leasing activity should be directed towards persons seeking to develop the land as opposed to persons seeking to speculate on geothermal resources and artificially raising the cost of legitimate geothermal energy development; (5) developers of geothermal energy on Federal land that have invested substantial capital and made high risk investments should be allowed to secure a discovery of geothermal energy resources; and (6) successful geothermal development on Federal land will provide increased revenue [[Page 18469]] to the Federal Government, with the payment of production royalties over decades. SEC. 3. NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING OF ADJOINING AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES. Section 4(b) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(4) Adjoining land.-- ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph: ``(i) Fair market value per acre.--The term `fair market value per acre' means a dollar amount per acre that-- ``(I) except as provided in this clause, shall be equal to the market value per acre as determined by the Secretary under regulations issued under this paragraph; ``(II) shall be determined by the Secretary with respect to a lease under this paragraph, by not later than the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date the Secretary receives an application for the lease; and ``(III) shall be not less than the greater of-- ``(aa) 4 times the median amount paid per acre for all land leased under this Act during the preceding year; or ``(bb) $50. ``(ii) Industry standards.--The term `industry standards' means the standards by which a qualified geothermal professional assesses whether downhole or flowing temperature measurements with indications of permeability are sufficient to produce energy from geothermal resources, as determined through flow or injection testing or measurement of lost circulation while drilling. ``(iii) Qualified federal land.--The term `qualified Federal land' means land that is otherwise available for leasing under this Act. ``(iv) Qualified geothermal professional.--The term `qualified geothermal professional' means an individual who is an engineer or geoscientist in good professional standing with at least 5 years of experience in geothermal exploration, development, or project assessment. ``(v) Qualified lessee.--The term `qualified lessee' means a person that may hold a geothermal lease under part 3202.10 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enactment of the Geothermal Production Expansion Act of 2010. ``(vi) Valid discovery.--The term `valid discovery' means a discovery of a geothermal resource by a new or existing slim hole or production well, that exhibits downhole or flowing temperature measurements with indications of permeability that are sufficient to meet industry standards. ``(B) Authority.--An area of qualified Federal land that adjoins other land for which a qualified lessee holds a legal right to develop geothermal resources may be available for a noncompetitive lease under this section to the qualified lessee at the fair market value per acre, if-- ``(i) the area of qualified Federal land-- ``(I) consists of not less than 1 acre and not more than 640 acres; and ``(II) is not already leased under this Act or nominated to be leased under subsection (a); ``(ii) the qualified lessee has not previously received a noncompetitive lease under this paragraph in connection with the valid discovery for which data has been submitted under clause (iii)(I); and ``(iii) sufficient geological and other technical data prepared by a qualified geothermal professional has been submitted by the qualified lessee to the applicable Federal land management agency that would lead individuals who are experienced in the subject matter to believe that-- ``(I) there is a valid discovery of geothermal resources on the land for which the qualified lessee holds the legal right to develop geothermal resources; and ``(II) that thermal feature extends into the adjoining areas. ``(C) Determination of fair market value.-- ``(i) In general.--The Secretary shall-- ``(I) publish a notice of any request to lease land under this paragraph; ``(II) determine fair market value for purposes of this paragraph in accordance with procedures for making those determinations that are established by regulations issued by the Secretary; ``(III) provide to a qualified lessee and publish any proposed determination under this subparagraph of the fair market value of an area that the qualified lessee seeks to lease under this paragraph; ``(IV) provide to the qualified lessee the opportunity to appeal the proposed determination during the 30-day period beginning on the date that the proposed determination is provided to the qualified lessee; and ``(V) provide to any interested member of the public the opportunity to appeal the proposed determination in accordance with the process established under parts 4 and 1840, and section 3200.5, of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of the Geothermal Production Expansion Act of 2010) during the 30- day period beginning on the date that the proposed determination is published. ``(ii) Limitation on nomination.--After publication of a notice of request to lease land under this paragraph, the Secretary may not accept under subsection (a) any nomination of the land for leasing unless the request has been denied or withdrawn. ``(D) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Geothermal Production Expansion Act of 2010, the Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out this paragraph.''. ______ By Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. Warner): S. 3995. A bill to direct the Administrator of the General Services Administration to install Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless neutral host systems in all Federal buildings in order to improve in-building wireless communications coverage and commercial network capacity by offloading wireless traffic onto wireless broadband networks; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today, along with Senator Warner, to introduce pro-consumer wireless legislation, which will improve wireless coverage and go a long way toward preventing the annoying dropped phone calls that many of us frequently experience indoors and in rural areas. Specifically, the Federal Wi-Net Act would require the installation of small wireless base stations, such as femtocells or similar technologies, and Wi-Fi hot-spots in Federal buildings to improve wireless coverage and network capacity. In addition, the bill would streamline Federal rights-of-way and wireless transmitter sitings on Federal buildings, which will simplify and expedite the placement of wireless and broadband network infrastructure, resulting in the expansion of coverage and more reliable service to consumers and businesses. Over the past year, there has been growing concern about a looming radio spectrum crisis given the significant growth in the wireless industry. Currently, there are more than 276 million wireless subscribers in the U.S., and American consumers use more than 6.4 billion minutes of air time per day. While the foundation for wireless services has been voice communication, more subscribers are utilizing it for broadband. According to the Pew Research Center, 56 percent of adult Americans have accessed the Internet via a wireless device. And ABI Research forecasts there will be 150 million mobile broadband subscribers by 2014--a 2,900 percent increase from 2007. To meet this growing demand, a multi-faceted solution is required that includes fostering technological advancement and more robust spectrum management. Such technologies as femtocells and Wi-Fi hotspots will help alleviate growing wireless demand by offloading that traffic onto wireline broadband networks. To that point, approximately 40 percent of cell phone calls are made indoors and more than 25 percent of U.S. households have ``cut-the- cord,'' relying solely on cell phones to make voice calls. On the data side, Cisco's Virtual Network Index reports that approximately 60 percent of mobile Internet use is done inside--either at home or at work. As the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan highlights, most smartphones sold today have Wi-Fi capabilities to take advantage of the growing ubiquity of wireless networks. According to a November 2008 report from AdMob, 42 percent of all iPhone traffic was transported over Wi-Fi networks rather than AT&T's cellular network. So installing more mini-base stations, such as femtocells, and Wi-Fi hotspots will improve indoor coverage and wireless network capacity. But in addition to improving indoor coverage and network capacity, we must take steps to expand wireless coverage--primarily in rural areas. The General Services Administration, GSA, manages approximately 8,600 buildings across the country that can be used to house wireless and broadband infrastructure. As the National Broadband Plan acknowledges, ``to effectively deploy broadband, providers often need to be able to place equipment on this federally controlled property, or to use the rights-of-way that pass through the property.'' So we must make it a priority to streamline the processes, zoning, and permitting to ensure that carriers have reasonable, timely, and appropriate access to Federal buildings. [[Page 18470]] Doing so will, without question, dramatically improve the service availability on which more than 276 million wireless subscribers rely daily. The increasing importance of wireless communications and broadband has a direct correlation to our Nation's competitiveness, economy, and national security and therefore demands that we make the appropriate changes to current spectrum policy and management to avert a spectrum crisis and continue to realize the boundless benefits of spectrum-based services. That is why I sincerely hope that my colleagues join Senator Warner and me in supporting this important legislation. ____________________