Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ]
Introduced
Summary
Gives the Interior Department authority to require geothermal lease applicants and holders to reimburse the federal government for processing, inspection, and monitoring costs. The authority would apply from enactment until September 30, 2032 and can be reduced for economic hardship or to encourage development.
Show full summary
- Geothermal developers and lease applicants: Could be charged for processing applications and permits and for inspecting and monitoring exploration, drilling, wells, and facility reclamation. The Secretary may lower charges if a cooperative cost-share exists or if full reimbursement would cause hardship.
- Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management: Collected reimbursements would be credited as discretionary offsetting collections to DOI accounts and would be available only if Congress provides advance appropriations for processing and oversight work.
- Stakeholders and Congress: The Secretary must report within five years on how these changes affected the BLM geothermal program and recommend whether to reauthorize or update the authority.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
New fees for geothermal developers
This bill would let the Interior Secretary require geothermal lease applicants and holders to reimburse the United States for reasonable processing, inspection, and monitoring costs from the date of enactment through September 30, 2032. Reimbursable processing costs would include reviews of operations plans, geothermal drilling permits, utilization plans, site licenses, facility construction permits, commercial use permits, and other related approvals. Reimbursable inspection and monitoring would include geophysical exploration, drilling and well plugging/abandonment, and the construction, operation, termination, and reclamation of well sites and facilities. The Secretary would have to consider any cooperative cost-share agreement and would be able to reduce required reimbursements for economic hardship or to promote greater use of geothermal resources. Amounts reimbursed would be credited to the applicable Interior appropriation as discretionary offsetting collections and would only be available if Congress provides them in appropriations Acts.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ]
AZ • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov