Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. KIM of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Westerman for yielding and for his leadership in moving this bill forward.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bipartisan bill, H.R. 7409, Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act, or the HEATS Act.

Geothermal energy is a clean, renewable source of energy that can generate electricity, heat homes and buildings, and power industrial processes. More geothermal energy production will lower our environmental footprint and benefit the climate.

Despite having a similar extraction process to that of oil and gas, geothermal energy is constrained by Federal permitting restrictions. Currently geothermal operators on nonFederal land that produce any Federal resources are subject to all Federal laws and permitting processes, even if minimal amounts of Federal minerals are present.

My State of California is a major producer of geothermal energy and has ample energy resources below the earth ready to be tapped into. The current Federal permitting process and State regulations have hurt progress in harnessing this clean energy source.

The HEATS Act would waive Federal drilling permit requirements for geothermal wells that are on State and private lands. This means geothermal operators would not need a Federal drilling permit for wells that are on State and private lands on which the subsurface geothermal estate is less than 50 percent Federal.

Operators must still go through a rigorous permitting process at the State level. They will, however, no longer be burdened by the Federal process, allowing us to harness this untapped energy source faster.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 7409 is a commonsense measure that will lower costs for Americans, reduce emissions, protect our national security, and expand our energy portfolio. The Natural Resources Committee passed the HEATS Act by a bipartisan vote, and I look forward to this bill passing out of the House in a timely bipartisan manner.

I thank my colleague Representative Duarte for co-leading the HEATS Act with me and, also, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Westerman for his commitment to accelerating geothermal production and promoting energy independence.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 7409.

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