The U.S. House of Representatives advanced a series of bills on Jun. 2 to promote geothermal energy production, expand recreational opportunities in the southeast, support Alaska Natives and Indian tribes, and improve water infrastructure. Chairman Bruce Westerman said the legislation would “support America’s rural communities” by making it easier to develop geothermal energy sources, supporting Alaska Natives and Indian tribes from Alaska to South Carolina, providing improved recreational opportunities in the southeastern United States, and improving water infrastructure in Colorado.
The legislative package includes H.R. 41, which amends the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to allow several Southeast Alaska communities to organize into urban corporations within the Tongass National Forest; H.R. 1687 requires annual geothermal lease sales by the Secretary of the Interior; H.R. 2768 authorizes a feasibility study for designating the Benton MacKaye Trail as a National Scenic Trail; H.R. 3831 aligns state and federal laws regarding shark feeding off Florida’s coast; and H.R. 4463 removes membership limits for the Catawba Indian Nation.
Other measures include H.R. 5631—the Geothermal Energy Advancement Act—which incorporates six bipartisan bills aimed at streamlining geothermal permitting processes, clarifying royalty structures for geothermal facilities sharing leases, authorizing fee collection for lease applications and inspections on federal lands, extending certain environmental exclusions to geothermal projects, publishing best practices guidance for leasing and permitting by Bureau of Land Management staff, and establishing a Geothermal Ombudsman within BLM.
Additional bills passed address land trust issues for Native American groups (H.R. 5682), conveyance of Crystal Reservoir assets to Ouray, Colorado (H.R. 5911), reauthorization of rural water systems in Montana (H.R. 7250), extension of oil and gas permit processing fees authority (H.R. 7831), wildfire mitigation studies across federal boundaries (H.R. 3922), and placing former Albuquerque Indian School land into trust for New Mexico Pueblos (H.R. 6162).
Westerman said he encourages swift action from the Senate on these measures.