| 1 | 1 | | I |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 2 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | DSESSION H. R. 8954 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | To promote the development of renewable energy on public lands, and for |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | other purposes. |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | JULY9, 2024 |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | Mr. G |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | OSARintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | committee concerned |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | A BILL |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | To promote the development of renewable energy on public |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | lands, and for other purposes. |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Land Renew-4 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | able Energy Development Act of 2024’’. 5 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 7 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | Sec. 1. Short title. |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | Sec. 2. Table of contents. |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | Sec. 3. Definitions. |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Aug 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H8954.IH H8954 |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | •HR 8954 IH |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | Sec. 4. Limited grandfathering. |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | Sec. 5. Disposition of revenues. |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | 1 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | In this Act: 2 |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | (1) C |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | OVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 3 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | means land that is— 4 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | (A) Federal land administered by the Sec-5 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | retary; and 6 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | (B) not excluded from the development of 7 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | geothermal, solar, or wind energy under— 8 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | (i) a land use plan; or 9 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | (ii) other Federal law. 10 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | (2) F |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | EDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 11 |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | means— 12 |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | (A) public lands; and 13 |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | (B) lands of the National Forest System 14 |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | as described in section 11(a) of the Forest and 15 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 16 |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 17 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | (3) F |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | UND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Re-18 |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | newable Energy Resource Conservation Fund estab-19 |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | lished by section 5(c)(1). 20 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | (4) R |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | ENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT .—The term 21 |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | ‘‘renewable energy project’’ means a project carried 22 |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | out on covered land that uses wind, solar, or geo-23 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | thermal energy to generate energy. 24 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Aug 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8954.IH H8954 |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | •HR 8954 IH |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | the Secretary of the Interior. 2 |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | SEC. 4. LIMITED GRANDFATHERING. 3 |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | (a) D |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | EFINITION OFPROJECT.—In this section, the 4 |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | term ‘‘project’’ means a system described in section 5 |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | 2801.9(a)(4) of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (as 6 |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). 7 |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | (b) R |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | EQUIREMENTTOPAYRENTS ANDFEES.—Un-8 |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | less otherwise agreed to by the owner of a project, the 9 |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | owner of a project that applied for a right-of-way under 10 |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | section 501 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 11 |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) on or before December 19, 12 |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | 2016, shall be obligated to pay with respect to the right- 13 |
|---|
| 80 | 80 | | of-way all rents and fees in effect before the effective date 14 |
|---|
| 81 | 81 | | of the rule of the Bureau of Land Management entitled 15 |
|---|
| 82 | 82 | | ‘‘Competitive Processes, Terms, and Conditions for Leas-16 |
|---|
| 83 | 83 | | ing Public Lands for Solar and Wind Energy Development 17 |
|---|
| 84 | 84 | | and Technical Changes and Corrections’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 18 |
|---|
| 85 | 85 | | 92122 (December 19, 2016)). 19 |
|---|
| 86 | 86 | | SEC. 5. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES. 20 |
|---|
| 87 | 87 | | (a) D |
|---|
| 88 | 88 | | ISPOSITION OFREVENUES.— 21 |
|---|
| 89 | 89 | | (1) A |
|---|
| 90 | 90 | | VAILABILITY.—Except as provided in 22 |
|---|
| 91 | 91 | | paragraph (2), beginning on January 1, 2025, of 23 |
|---|
| 92 | 92 | | amounts collected from a wind or solar project as 24 |
|---|
| 93 | 93 | | bonus bids, rentals, fees, or other payments under a 25 |
|---|
| 94 | 94 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Aug 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8954.IH H8954 |
|---|
| 95 | 95 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
|---|
| 96 | 96 | | •HR 8954 IH |
|---|
| 97 | 97 | | right-of-way, permit, lease, or other authorization 1 |
|---|
| 98 | 98 | | the following shall be made available, without fur-2 |
|---|
| 99 | 99 | | ther appropriation or fiscal year limitation, as fol-3 |
|---|
| 100 | 100 | | lows: 4 |
|---|
| 101 | 101 | | (A) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by 5 |
|---|
| 102 | 102 | | the Secretary of the Treasury to the State with-6 |
|---|
| 103 | 103 | | in the boundaries of which the revenue is de-7 |
|---|
| 104 | 104 | | rived. 8 |
|---|
| 105 | 105 | | (B) Twenty-five percent shall be paid by 9 |
|---|
| 106 | 106 | | the Secretary of the Treasury to the one or 10 |
|---|
| 107 | 107 | | more counties within the boundaries of which 11 |
|---|
| 108 | 108 | | the revenue is derived, to be allocated among 12 |
|---|
| 109 | 109 | | the counties based on the percentage of land 13 |
|---|
| 110 | 110 | | from which the revenue is derived. 14 |
|---|
| 111 | 111 | | (C) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited 15 |
|---|
| 112 | 112 | | in the Treasury and be made available to the 16 |
|---|
| 113 | 113 | | Secretary to carry out the program established 17 |
|---|
| 114 | 114 | | under this Act, including the transfer of the 18 |
|---|
| 115 | 115 | | funds by the Bureau of Land Management to 19 |
|---|
| 116 | 116 | | other Federal agencies and State agencies to fa-20 |
|---|
| 117 | 117 | | cilitate the processing of renewable energy per-21 |
|---|
| 118 | 118 | | mits on Federal land, with priority given to 22 |
|---|
| 119 | 119 | | using the amounts, to the maximum extent 23 |
|---|
| 120 | 120 | | practicable without detrimental impacts to 24 |
|---|
| 121 | 121 | | emerging markets, to expediting the issuance of 25 |
|---|
| 122 | 122 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Aug 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8954.IH H8954 |
|---|
| 123 | 123 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
|---|
| 124 | 124 | | •HR 8954 IH |
|---|
| 125 | 125 | | permits required for the development of renew-1 |
|---|
| 126 | 126 | | able energy projects in the States from which 2 |
|---|
| 127 | 127 | | the revenues are derived. 3 |
|---|
| 128 | 128 | | (D) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited 4 |
|---|
| 129 | 129 | | in the Renewable Energy Resource Conserva-5 |
|---|
| 130 | 130 | | tion Fund established by subsection (c). 6 |
|---|
| 131 | 131 | | (2) E |
|---|
| 132 | 132 | | XCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 7 |
|---|
| 133 | 133 | | apply to the following: 8 |
|---|
| 134 | 134 | | (A) Amounts collected under section 9 |
|---|
| 135 | 135 | | 504(g) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-10 |
|---|
| 136 | 136 | | ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1764(g)). 11 |
|---|
| 137 | 137 | | (B) Amounts deposited into the National 12 |
|---|
| 138 | 138 | | Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration 13 |
|---|
| 139 | 139 | | Fund under section 200402(b) of title 54, 14 |
|---|
| 140 | 140 | | United States Code. 15 |
|---|
| 141 | 141 | | (b) P |
|---|
| 142 | 142 | | AYMENTS TOSTATES ANDCOUNTIES.— 16 |
|---|
| 143 | 143 | | (1) I |
|---|
| 144 | 144 | | N GENERAL.—Amounts paid to States and 17 |
|---|
| 145 | 145 | | counties under subsection (a)(1) shall be used con-18 |
|---|
| 146 | 146 | | sistent with section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act 19 |
|---|
| 147 | 147 | | (30 U.S.C. 191). 20 |
|---|
| 148 | 148 | | (2) P |
|---|
| 149 | 149 | | AYMENTS IN LIEU OF TAXES .—A payment 21 |
|---|
| 150 | 150 | | to a county under paragraph (1) shall be in addition 22 |
|---|
| 151 | 151 | | to a payment in lieu of taxes received by the county 23 |
|---|
| 152 | 152 | | under chapter 69 of title 31, United States Code. 24 |
|---|
| 153 | 153 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Aug 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8954.IH H8954 |
|---|
| 154 | 154 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
|---|
| 155 | 155 | | •HR 8954 IH |
|---|
| 156 | 156 | | (c) RENEWABLEENERGYRESOURCECONSERVATION 1 |
|---|
| 157 | 157 | | F |
|---|
| 158 | 158 | | UND.— 2 |
|---|
| 159 | 159 | | (1) I |
|---|
| 160 | 160 | | N GENERAL.—There is established in the 3 |
|---|
| 161 | 161 | | Treasury a fund to be known as the Renewable En-4 |
|---|
| 162 | 162 | | ergy Resource Conservation Fund, which shall be 5 |
|---|
| 163 | 163 | | administered by the Secretary, in consultation with 6 |
|---|
| 164 | 164 | | the Secretary of Agriculture. 7 |
|---|
| 165 | 165 | | (2) U |
|---|
| 166 | 166 | | SE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may make 8 |
|---|
| 167 | 167 | | amounts in the Fund available to Federal, State, 9 |
|---|
| 168 | 168 | | local, and Tribal agencies to be distributed in re-10 |
|---|
| 169 | 169 | | gions in which renewable energy projects are located 11 |
|---|
| 170 | 170 | | on Federal land. Such amounts may be used to— 12 |
|---|
| 171 | 171 | | (A) restore and protect— 13 |
|---|
| 172 | 172 | | (i) fish and wildlife habitat for af-14 |
|---|
| 173 | 173 | | fected species; 15 |
|---|
| 174 | 174 | | (ii) fish and wildlife corridors for af-16 |
|---|
| 175 | 175 | | fected species; and 17 |
|---|
| 176 | 176 | | (iii) wetlands, streams, rivers, and 18 |
|---|
| 177 | 177 | | other natural water bodies in areas af-19 |
|---|
| 178 | 178 | | fected by wind, geothermal, or solar energy 20 |
|---|
| 179 | 179 | | development; and 21 |
|---|
| 180 | 180 | | (B) preserve and improve recreational ac-22 |
|---|
| 181 | 181 | | cess to Federal land and water in an affected 23 |
|---|
| 182 | 182 | | region through an easement, right-of-way, or 24 |
|---|
| 183 | 183 | | other instrument from willing landowners for 25 |
|---|
| 184 | 184 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Aug 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8954.IH H8954 |
|---|
| 185 | 185 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
|---|
| 186 | 186 | | •HR 8954 IH |
|---|
| 187 | 187 | | the purpose of enhancing public access to exist-1 |
|---|
| 188 | 188 | | ing Federal land and water that is inaccessible 2 |
|---|
| 189 | 189 | | or restricted. 3 |
|---|
| 190 | 190 | | (3) P |
|---|
| 191 | 191 | | ARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary may enter 4 |
|---|
| 192 | 192 | | into cooperative agreements with State and Tribal 5 |
|---|
| 193 | 193 | | agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other appro-6 |
|---|
| 194 | 194 | | priate entities to carry out the activities described in 7 |
|---|
| 195 | 195 | | paragraph (2). 8 |
|---|
| 196 | 196 | | (4) I |
|---|
| 197 | 197 | | NVESTMENT OF FUND .— 9 |
|---|
| 198 | 198 | | (A) I |
|---|
| 199 | 199 | | N GENERAL.—Amounts deposited in 10 |
|---|
| 200 | 200 | | the Fund shall earn interest in an amount de-11 |
|---|
| 201 | 201 | | termined by the Secretary of the Treasury on 12 |
|---|
| 202 | 202 | | the basis of the current average market yield on 13 |
|---|
| 203 | 203 | | outstanding marketable obligations of the 14 |
|---|
| 204 | 204 | | United States of comparable maturities. 15 |
|---|
| 205 | 205 | | (B) U |
|---|
| 206 | 206 | | SE.—Interest earned under subpara-16 |
|---|
| 207 | 207 | | graph (A) may be expended in accordance with 17 |
|---|
| 208 | 208 | | this subsection. 18 |
|---|
| 209 | 209 | | (5) R |
|---|
| 210 | 210 | | EPORT TO CONGRESS.—At the end of each 19 |
|---|
| 211 | 211 | | fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit a report to 20 |
|---|
| 212 | 212 | | the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 21 |
|---|
| 213 | 213 | | of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 22 |
|---|
| 214 | 214 | | and Natural Resources of the Senate that includes 23 |
|---|
| 215 | 215 | | a description of— 24 |
|---|
| 216 | 216 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Aug 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8954.IH H8954 |
|---|
| 217 | 217 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
|---|
| 218 | 218 | | •HR 8954 IH |
|---|
| 219 | 219 | | (A) the amount collected as described in 1 |
|---|
| 220 | 220 | | subsection (a), by source, during that fiscal 2 |
|---|
| 221 | 221 | | year; 3 |
|---|
| 222 | 222 | | (B) the amount and purpose of payments 4 |
|---|
| 223 | 223 | | during that fiscal year to each Federal, State, 5 |
|---|
| 224 | 224 | | local, and Tribal agency under paragraph (2); 6 |
|---|
| 225 | 225 | | and 7 |
|---|
| 226 | 226 | | (C) the amount remaining in the Fund at 8 |
|---|
| 227 | 227 | | the end of the fiscal year. 9 |
|---|
| 228 | 228 | | (6) I |
|---|
| 229 | 229 | | NTENT OF CONGRESS .—It is the intent of 10 |
|---|
| 230 | 230 | | Congress that the revenues deposited and used in 11 |
|---|
| 231 | 231 | | the Fund shall supplement (and not supplant) an-12 |
|---|
| 232 | 232 | | nual appropriations for activities described in para-13 |
|---|
| 233 | 233 | | graph (2). 14 |
|---|
| 234 | 234 | | Æ |
|---|
| 235 | 235 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Aug 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8954.IH H8954 |
|---|
| 236 | 236 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
|---|