Amending the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to Expedite Geothermal Exploration and Development in Previously Studied or Developed Areas

Floor Speech

I rise to comment on H.R. 6474, Representative Steel's bill, which aims to expedite geothermal exploration and development in previously studied or developed areas. I thank my colleague for her attention to this important issue.

I strongly support deploying geothermal energy on Federal lands. We have heard from geothermal developers that there can be challenges when it comes to permitting new geothermal plants. That is exactly why several of the bills we are discussing here today are designed to address those very challenges.

Now, what H.R. 6474 would do is legislate the creation of a new categorical exclusion for certain geothermal-related activities. Categorical exclusions are used when there is a class of actions that Federal agencies have determined do not individually or cumulatively have a significant impact on the human environment, and therefore, do not require either an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.

Currently, the oil and gas industries have a relatively narrow categorical exclusion for minor disturbances in already developed oil fields; that is, oil fields that have recently been analyzed under NEPA.

This bill attempts to put geothermal on a level playing field by taking that existing categorical exclusion and applying it basically as is to geothermal.

At the legislative hearing on this bill, the Bureau of Land Management testified that it is skeptical that this policy will provide significant benefits for geothermal because the existing categorical exclusion was designed for oil and gas, and there are considerable differences between those types of energy and geothermal.

Fortunately, the Bureau of Land Management already has the authority to establish new categorical exclusions administratively without the need for legislation.

Using that authority, the Bureau has recently finalized new categorical exclusions for geothermal energy that were adopted from other agencies and are better tailored to this unique type of energy.

The Bureau is currently working on establishing more categorical exclusions to ensure that geothermal can be deployed responsibly and efficiently on Federal land.

While I have some concerns about the expansion of existing categorical exclusions for oil and gas, I strongly support the Bureau of Land Management's work on geothermal, and again, I am grateful for my colleague's attention to this important issue.

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Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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