Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2301 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2301
5	5	To promote the development of renewable energy on public land, and for
6	6	other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MARCH24, 2025
9	9	Mr. L
10	10	EVINintroduced 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	land, 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. DEFINITIONS. 3
21	21	In this Act: 4
22	22	(1) C
23	23	OVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 5
24	24	means land that is— 6
25	25	(A) Federal land; 7
26	26	(B) not excluded from the development of 8
27	27	geothermal, solar, or wind energy under— 9
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30	30	•HR 2301 IH
31	31	(i) a land use plan; or 1
32	32	(ii) other Federal law; and 2
33	33	(C) not included in an area— 3
34	34	(i) that is subject to the Desert Re-4
35	35	newable Energy Conservation Plan devel-5
36	36	oped by the California Energy Commis-6
37	37	sion, the California Department of Fish 7
38	38	and Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Manage-8
39	39	ment, and the United States Fish and 9
40	40	Wildlife Service; or 10
41	41	(ii) for which the Secretary deter-11
42	42	mines existing wind and solar energy land 12
43	43	use planning meets or exceeds the stand-13
44	44	ards established under section 3. 14
45	45	(2) E
46	46	NERGY STORAGE PROJECT .—The term 15
47	47	‘‘energy storage project’’ means equipment that— 16
48	48	(A) receives, stores, and delivers energy 17
49	49	using batteries, compressed air, pumped hydro-18
50	50	power, hydrogen storage (including hydrolysis), 19
51	51	thermal energy storage, regenerative fuel cells, 20
52	52	flywheels, capacitors, superconducting magnets, 21
53	53	or other technologies identified by the Secretary 22
54	54	of Energy; and 23
55	55	(B) has a storage capacity of not less than 24
56	56	5 kilowatt hours. 25
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60	60	(3) EXCLUSION AREA.—The term ‘‘exclusion 1
61	61	area’’ means covered land that is identified by the 2
62	62	Bureau of Land Management as not suitable for de-3
63	63	velopment of renewable energy projects. 4
64	64	(4) F
65	65	EDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 5
66	66	means— 6
67	67	(A) public land; and 7
68	68	(B) National Forest System lands adminis-8
69	69	tered by the Department of Agriculture through 9
70	70	the Forest Service where the Secretary has au-10
71	71	thority to issue leases for the development and 11
72	72	utilization of geothermal resources under sec-12
73	73	tion 3 and section 15 of the Geothermal Steam 13
74	74	Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1002, 1014). 14
75	75	(5) F
76	76	UND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Re-15
77	77	newable Energy Resource Conservation Fund estab-16
78	78	lished by section 6(c)(1). 17
79	79	(6) L
80	80	AND USE PLAN .—The term ‘‘land use 18
81	81	plan’’ means— 19
82	82	(A) with respect to public land, a land use 20
83	83	plan established under the Federal Land Policy 21
84	84	and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 22
85	85	et seq.); and 23
86	86	(B) with respect to National Forest Sys-24
87	87	tem land, a land management plan approved, 25
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90	90	•HR 2301 IH
91	91	amended, or revised under section 6 of the For-1
92	92	est and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan-2
93	93	ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 3
94	94	(7) N
95	95	ATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM .—The term 4
96	96	‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 5
97	97	the term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range-6
98	98	land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 7
99	99	U.S.C. 1609(a)). 8
100	100	(8) P
101	101	RIORITY AREA.—The term ‘‘priority area’’ 9
102	102	means covered land identified by the land use plan-10
103	103	ning process of the Bureau of Land Management as 11
104	104	being a preferred location for a renewable energy 12
105	105	project, including an area that is identified as a des-13
106	106	ignated leasing area under the rule of the Bureau of 14
107	107	Land Management entitled ‘‘Competitive Processes, 15
108	108	Terms, and Conditions for Leasing Public Lands for 16
109	109	Solar and Wind Energy Development and Technical 17
110	110	Changes and Corrections’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 92122 18
111	111	(December 19, 2016)) (or a successor regulation). 19
112	112	(9) P
113	113	UBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 20
114	114	has the meaning given the term ‘‘public lands’’ in 21
115	115	section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-22
116	116	ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 23
117	117	(10) R
118	118	ENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT .—The 24
119	119	term ‘‘renewable energy project’’— 25
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123	123	(A) means a project carried out on covered 1
124	124	land that— 2
125	125	(i) uses wind, solar, or geothermal en-3
126	126	ergy to generate energy; or 4
127	127	(ii) transmits electricity to support 5
128	128	wind, solar, or geothermal energy genera-6
129	129	tion; and 7
130	130	(B) may include an associated energy stor-8
131	131	age project. 9
132	132	(11) S
133	133	ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 10
134	134	means the Secretary of the Interior. 11
135	135	SEC. 2. UPDATING NATIONAL GOALS FOR RENEWABLE EN-12
136	136	ERGY PRODUCTION ON FEDERAL LAND. 13
137	137	Section 3104 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 14
138	138	3004) is amended— 15
139	139	(1) in subsection (b)— 16
140	140	(A) by striking ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘60’’; 17
141	141	and 18
142	142	(B) by striking ‘‘2025’’ and inserting ‘‘De-19
143	143	cember 31, 2030’’; and 20
144	144	(2) by adding at the end the following: 21
145	145	‘‘(c) U
146	146	PDATE.—Not later than 18 months after the 22
147	147	date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary, in con-23
148	148	sultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the heads 24
149	149	of other relevant Federal agencies, shall update the na-25
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152	152	•HR 2301 IH
153	153	tional goals for renewable energy production on Federal 1
154	154	land established under subsection (a).’’. 2
155	155	SEC. 3. LAND USE PLANNING AND UPDATES TO PRO-3
156	156	GRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 4
157	157	STATEMENTS. 5
158	158	(a) P
159	159	RIORITYAREAS.— 6
160	160	(1) E
161	161	STABLISHMENT OF PRIORITY AREAS ; DES-7
162	162	IGNATION OF AREAS ELIGIBLE FOR THE SUBMISSION 8
163	163	OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT APPLICATIONS .— 9
164	164	(A) I
165	165	N GENERAL.—For purposes of renew-10
166	166	able energy planning, the Secretary, consistent 11
167	167	with the requirements described in subpara-12
168	168	graph (B), shall— 13
169	169	(i) designate areas on covered land eli-14
170	170	gible for the submission of renewable en-15
171	171	ergy project applications; and 16
172	172	(ii) consider establishing priority 17
173	173	areas on covered land for renewable energy 18
174	174	projects. 19
175	175	(B) R
176	176	EQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out ac-20
177	177	tivities under clauses (i) and (ii) of subpara-21
178	178	graph (A), the Secretary shall comply with— 22
179	179	(i) the principles of multiple use (as 23
180	180	defined in section 103 of the Federal Land 24
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183	183	•HR 2301 IH
184	184	Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 1
185	185	U.S.C. 1702)); and 2
186	186	(ii) the national goals for renewable 3
187	187	energy production established under sec-4
188	188	tion 3104 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 5
189	189	U.S.C. 3004), including the minimum pro-6
190	190	duction goal described in subsection (b) of 7
191	191	that section. 8
192	192	(2) P
193	193	RIORITY FOR CERTAIN APPLICATIONS .—In 9
194	194	considering applications for renewable energy 10
195	195	projects on covered land, with respect to an applica-11
196	196	tion for a proposed renewable energy project on cov-12
197	197	ered land that is to be carried out in a priority area, 13
198	198	the Secretary shall— 14
199	199	(A) prioritize the application to be carried 15
200	200	out in any identified priority area; and 16
201	201	(B) on approval of the application, provide 17
202	202	to the applicant who submitted the application 18
203	203	the opportunity to participate in any regional 19
204	204	mitigation plan developed for the applicable pri-20
205	205	ority area. 21
206	206	(3) P
207	207	ROGRAMMATIC PLANNING .— 22
208	208	(A) S
209	209	OLAR ENERGY.—As soon as prac-23
210	210	ticable, but not later than 18 months after the 24
211	211	Record of Decision titled ‘‘Approved Record of 25
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215	215	Decision and Amendments/Record of Decision 1
216	216	for Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development’’ 2
217	217	dated December 2024 was issued, the Secretary 3
218	218	shall consider establishing priority areas on cov-4
219	219	ered land for Solar energy projects in the plan-5
220	220	ning area (as defined in the Record of Deci-6
221	221	sion). 7
222	222	(B) W
223	223	IND ENERGY.—As soon as prac-8
224	224	ticable, but not later than 1 year after the date 9
225	225	of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 10
226	226	initiate a review of the final programmatic En-11
227	227	vironment Impact Statement referenced in the 12
228	228	notice of availability entitled ‘‘Notice of Avail-13
229	229	ability of the Final Programmatic Environ-14
230	230	mental Impact Statement on Wind Energy De-15
231	231	velopment on BLM–Administered Lands in the 16
232	232	Western United States, Including Proposed 17
233	233	Amendments to Selected Land Use Plans’’ (70 18
234	234	Fed. Reg. 36651 (June 24, 2005)), that con-19
235	235	siders establishment of wind application and 20
236	236	priority areas on covered lands, and complete 21
237	237	that review within 3 years of issuing a notice of 22
238	238	intent. 23
239	239	(b) R
240	240	EVIEW ANDMODIFICATION.— 24
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244	244	(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 1
245	245	not less frequently than once every 10 years, the 2
246	246	Secretary shall— 3
247	247	(A) after an opportunity for public com-4
248	248	ment, review the adequacy of all land alloca-5
249	249	tions for renewable energy projects for the pur-6
250	250	poses of— 7
251	251	(i) encouraging and facilitating new 8
252	252	renewable energy projects; and 9
253	253	(ii) consistent with a mitigation se-10
254	254	quence of avoiding, minimizing, and com-11
255	255	pensating for adverse impacts to other 12
256	256	public uses and values of covered land, in-13
257	257	cluding— 14
258	258	(I) wildlife habitat; 15
259	259	(II) species listed as threatened 16
260	260	or endangered under the Endangered 17
261	261	Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 18
262	262	et seq.); 19
263	263	(III) water resources; 20
264	264	(IV) cultural resources; 21
265	265	(V) recreational uses; 22
266	266	(VI) land with wilderness charac-23
267	267	teristics; 24
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271	271	(VII) land with special manage-1
272	272	ment designations; and 2
273	273	(VIII) areas of Tribal impor-3
274	274	tance; and 4
275	275	(B) based on the review carried out under 5
276	276	subparagraph (A), add, modify, or eliminate 6
277	277	priority areas, exclusion areas, and areas on 7
278	278	covered land open or closed to solar or wind en-8
279	279	ergy right-of-way applications or to geothermal 9
280	280	leasing. 10
281	281	(2) L
282	282	IMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 11
283	283	apply to any covered land that the Secretary deter-12
284	284	mines, after seeking public input, is subject to an ex-13
285	285	isting land use plan that meets the purposes de-14
286	286	scribed in paragraph (1)(A). 15
287	287	(3) R
288	288	EPORT.—If the Secretary determines, in 16
289	289	an annual report required under subsection (g) of 17
290	290	section 3102 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 U.S.C. 18
291	291	3002) (as redesignated by section 4(a)(1)), that the 19
292	292	national goal for renewable energy production estab-20
293	293	lished under subsection (a) of section 3104 of that 21
294	294	Act (43 U.S.C. 3004), including the minimum pro-22
295	295	duction goal established under subsection (b) of that 23
296	296	section, may not be met, the Secretary shall act 24
297	297	more frequently than otherwise required by this sec-25
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301	301	tion to designate areas eligible for the submission of 1
302	302	renewable energy project applications and establish 2
303	303	additional priority areas for renewable energy 3
304	304	projects. 4
305	305	(c) C
306	306	OMPLIANCEWITH THENATIONALENVIRON-5
307	307	MENTALPOLICYACT OF1969.—For purposes of this sec-6
308	308	tion, compliance with the National Environmental Policy 7
309	309	Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be accom-8
310	310	plished— 9
311	311	(1) for geothermal energy— 10
312	312	(A) by updating the document entitled 11
313	313	‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 12
314	314	Statement for Geothermal Leasing in the West-13
315	315	ern United States’’ and dated October 2008; 14
316	316	and 15
317	317	(B) by incorporating into the updated doc-16
318	318	ument under subparagraph (A) any additional 17
319	319	regional analyses completed by Federal agencies 18
320	320	after the date on which the document described 19
321	321	in that subparagraph was finalized; 20
322	322	(2) for solar energy— 21
323	323	(A) by updating the document entitled 22
324	324	‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 23
325	325	Statement (PEIS) for Solar Energy Develop-24
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329	329	ment in Six Southwestern States’’ and dated 1
330	330	July 2012; and 2
331	331	(B) by incorporating into the updated doc-3
332	332	ument under subparagraph (A) any additional 4
333	333	regional analyses completed by Federal agencies 5
334	334	after the date on which the document described 6
335	335	in that subparagraph was finalized; and 7
336	336	(3) for wind energy— 8
337	337	(A) by updating the document entitled 9
338	338	‘‘Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 10
339	339	Statement on Wind Energy Development on 11
340	340	BLM–Administered Lands in the Western 12
341	341	United States’’ and dated June 2005; and 13
342	342	(B) by incorporating into the updated doc-14
343	343	ument under subparagraph (A) any additional 15
344	344	regional analyses completed by Federal agencies 16
345	345	after the date on which the document described 17
346	346	in that subparagraph was finalized. 18
347	347	(d) N
348	348	OEFFECT ONPROCESSINGSITE-SPECIFICAP-19
349	349	PLICATIONS.—Nothing in this section modifies any re-20
350	350	quirement to conduct site-specific environmental reviews 21
351	351	or process permits for proposed renewable energy projects 22
352	352	during preparation of an updated programmatic environ-23
353	353	mental impact statement, land use plan, or amendment 24
354	354	to a land use plan. 25
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358	358	(e) COORDINATION.—In developing any update re-1
359	359	quired under this section, the Secretary shall coordinate, 2
360	360	on an ongoing basis, with appropriate State, Tribal, and 3
361	361	local governments, transmission infrastructure owners, op-4
362	362	erators, and developers, renewable energy developers, and 5
363	363	other appropriate entities to ensure that priority areas es-6
364	364	tablished by the Secretary under this section take into ac-7
365	365	count— 8
366	366	(1) economic viability (including having access 9
367	367	to existing or planned transmission lines); 10
368	368	(2) consistency with a mitigation sequence to 11
369	369	avoid, minimize, and compensate for impacts to— 12
370	370	(A) fish, wildlife, or plants; 13
371	371	(B) fish, wildlife, or plant habitat; 14
372	372	(C) recreational uses; 15
373	373	(D) land with wilderness characteristics; 16
374	374	(E) land with special management designa-17
375	375	tions; 18
376	376	(F) cultural resources; 19
377	377	(G) areas of Tribal importance; and 20
378	378	(H) other uses of covered land; 21
379	379	(3) feasibility of siting on previously disturbed 22
380	380	land, including commercial and industrial land, mine 23
381	381	land, and previously contaminated sites; and 24
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385	385	(4) consistency with section 202 of the Federal 1
386	386	Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 2
387	387	U.S.C. 1712), including subsection (c)(9) of that 3
388	388	section (43 U.S.C. 1712(c)(9)). 4
389	389	(f) T
390	390	RANSMISSION.—In carrying out this section, the 5
391	391	Secretary shall— 6
392	392	(1) determine whether adequate transmission 7
393	393	exists for renewable energy projects on covered land; 8
394	394	and 9
395	395	(2) if a determination is made in the negative 10
396	396	under paragraph (1), in coordination with the heads 11
397	397	of other relevant Federal agencies, review existing 12
398	398	land use plans to determine if amendments to those 13
399	399	land use plans would be appropriate to support ade-14
400	400	quate transmission capability. 15
401	401	(g) I
402	402	NCENTIVES FORRENEWABLEENERGYDEVEL-16
403	403	OPMENT INPRIORITYAREAS.—The Secretary may estab-17
404	404	lish, by regulation, incentives to be provided to individuals 18
405	405	carrying out renewable energy projects in priority areas 19
406	406	established under this section. 20
407	407	SEC. 4. IMPROVING WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY PROJECT 21
408	408	PERMITTING. 22
409	409	(a) R
410	410	OLE OFRENEWABLEENERGYCOORDINATION 23
411	411	O
412	412	FFICES.—Section 3102 of the Energy Act of 2020 (43 24
413	413	U.S.C. 3002) is amended— 25
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417	417	(1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 1
418	418	subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and 2
419	419	(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-3
420	420	lowing: 4
421	421	‘‘(e) P
422	422	ROCESSING OFWIND ANDSOLARENERGYAP-5
423	423	PLICATIONS.— 6
424	424	‘‘(1) D
425	425	ELEGATION TO STATE RENEWABLE EN -7
426	426	ERGY COORDINATION OFFICES .— 8
427	427	‘‘(A) I
428	428	N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 9
429	429	other provision of law, the Secretary may dele-10
430	430	gate to a State Renewable Energy Coordination 11
431	431	Office the authority to process applications for 12
432	432	eligible projects proposed to be carried out on 13
433	433	land managed by the Bureau of Land Manage-14
434	434	ment in the applicable State. 15
435	435	‘‘(B) R
436	436	OLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF 16
437	437	MANAGERS.—For purposes of processing appli-17
438	438	cations described in subparagraph (A), the 18
439	439	manager of the applicable State Renewable En-19
440	440	ergy Coordination Office— 20
441	441	‘‘(i) shall have the authority to issue 21
442	442	grants or leases for eligible projects; 22
443	443	‘‘(ii) with the approval of the State 23
444	444	Director of the applicable Bureau of Land 24
445	445	Management State Office, may use other 25
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449	449	employees in field and district offices of 1
450	450	the applicable Bureau of Land Manage-2
451	451	ment State Office, or hire additional ex-3
452	452	perts, to assist with timely processing of 4
453	453	applications, with the costs of hiring addi-5
454	454	tional experts to be charged to applicants; 6
455	455	and 7
456	456	‘‘(iii) shall report to the State Direc-8
457	457	tor of the applicable Bureau of Land Man-9
458	458	agement State Office. 10
459	459	‘‘(2) P
460	460	ROHIBITION OF DELEGATION TO EM -11
461	461	PLOYEES OF FIELD OR DISTRICT OFFICES .—Except 12
462	462	as provided in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), the Secretary 13
463	463	may not delegate to employees of field or district of-14
464	464	fices of the Bureau of Land Management the au-15
465	465	thority to process applications for eligible projects 16
466	466	proposed to be carried out on land managed by the 17
467	467	Bureau of Land Management.’’. 18
468	468	(b) C
469	469	OSTRECOVERYAGREEMENTS.— 19
470	470	(1) I
471	471	N GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 20
472	472	the date on which an applicant submits a complete 21
473	473	application for a right-of-way for a wind or solar en-22
474	474	ergy project, including submission of the filing fee 23
475	475	required under section 2804.12 of title 43, Code of 24
476	476	Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), the 25
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479	479	•HR 2301 IH
480	480	Secretary shall provide a cost recovery agreement 1
481	481	with respect to the application. 2
482	482	(2) E
483	483	FFECT.—Issuance of a cost recovery 3
484	484	agreement under paragraph (1) and payment of cost 4
485	485	recovery fees shall preclude any new claims to the 5
486	486	use of the applicable covered land during any period 6
487	487	in which the application is active. 7
488	488	(3) C
489	489	ONFLICTS; STUDIES.— 8
490	490	(A) C
491	491	ONFLICTS.—To be considered com-9
492	492	plete under paragraph (1), an application de-10
493	493	scribed in that paragraph shall address any 11
494	494	known conflicts with respect to the use of the 12
495	495	applicable covered land, as identified in sci-13
496	496	entific literature or other studies. 14
497	497	(B) A
498	498	DDITIONAL STUDIES .—Additional 15
499	499	studies shall not be required for purposes of 16
500	500	considering an application to be complete under 17
501	501	paragraph (1). 18
502	502	(c) E
503	503	NVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS.— 19
504	504	(1) N
505	505	OTICE OF INTENT.— 20
506	506	(A) I
507	507	N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 21
508	508	days after the date on which the agency notifies 22
509	509	the applicant that the application to establish a 23
510	510	right-of-way is complete, or a later date to be 24
511	511	established by the Secretary under subpara-25
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514	514	•HR 2301 IH
515	515	graph (B), if an environmental impact state-1
516	516	ment is determined to be necessary, the Sec-2
517	517	retary shall issue a notice of intent to prepare 3
518	518	an environmental impact statement with respect 4
519	519	to the application. 5
520	520	(B) E
521	521	XTENSION.—The Secretary shall es-6
522	522	tablish a later date by which the notice under 7
523	523	subparagraph (A) shall be issued, if the Sec-8
524	524	retary determines that the 180-day period 9
525	525	under that paragraph should be extended due 10
526	526	to— 11
527	527	(i) the application being considered a 12
528	528	low priority under section 2804.35 of title 13
529	529	43, Code of Federal Regulations (or a suc-14
530	530	cessor regulation); 15
531	531	(ii) project-specific circumstances, in-16
532	532	cluding the need for further studies, mak-17
533	533	ing the 180-day deadline insufficient; or 18
534	534	(iii) the application not meeting the 19
535	535	requirements for approval. 20
536	536	(2) C
537	537	ATEGORICAL EXCLUSION .—As the Sec-21
538	538	retary determines to be appropriate, the Secretary 22
539	539	may promulgate regulations providing that prelimi-23
540	540	nary geotechnical work and meteorological moni-24
541	541	toring relating to renewable energy projects shall be 25
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544	544	•HR 2301 IH
545	545	categorically excluded from the requirements for an 1
546	546	environmental assessment or environmental impact 2
547	547	statement under section 1501.4 of title 40, Code of 3
548	548	Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation). 4
549	549	(d) P
550	550	ROCESSINGPRIORITY.—In processing applica-5
551	551	tions described in subsection (b)(1), the Secretary shall— 6
552	552	(1) give priority to applications for renewable 7
553	553	energy projects in priority areas; and 8
554	554	(2) process applications for renewable energy 9
555	555	projects in areas that are not priority areas in the 10
556	556	order in which the applications are received. 11
557	557	(e) U
558	558	SE OFCOMPETITIVEPROCESS.— 12
559	559	(1) I
560	560	N GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 13
561	561	the Secretary shall not use a competitive process for 14
562	562	the review of an application described in subsection 15
563	563	(b)(1), except— 16
564	564	(A) in a case in which 2 or more appli-17
565	565	cants file an application for the same site (or 18
566	566	portions of the same site) not more than 15 19
567	567	days apart; or 20
568	568	(B) as otherwise established by the Sec-21
569	569	retary through a subsequent rulemaking process 22
570	570	delineating the instances in which the Secretary 23
571	571	will use the competitive process. 24
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574	574	•HR 2301 IH
575	575	(2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 1
576	576	apply to applications for competitive right-of-way 2
577	577	leases in priority areas. 3
578	578	SEC. 5. INCREASING ECONOMIC CERTAINTY. 4
579	579	(a) R
580	580	ENTS ANDFEES.— 5
581	581	(1) I
582	582	N GENERAL.—In determining rental rates 6
583	583	and other fees for renewable energy project leases or 7
584	584	right-of-way grants, the Secretary shall ensure that 8
585	585	the total rental rates and other fees charged do not 9
586	586	exceed the average amount charged for similar ac-10
587	587	tivities on private land in the State or county in 11
588	588	which the rental rates and other fees are charged. 12
589	589	(2) I
590	590	NDIVIDUAL APPRAISALS NOT REQUIRED .— 13
591	591	For purposes of determining rental rates for renew-14
592	592	able energy projects, the Secretary— 15
593	593	(A) shall not be required to conduct indi-16
594	594	vidual appraisals; and 17
595	595	(B) may use average cash rents included in 18
596	596	the Pastureland Rents Survey prepared by the 19
597	597	National Agricultural Statistics Service, as de-20
598	598	termined for the 5-year period ending on the 21
599	599	date on which the rental rate is determined. 22
600	600	(3) I
601	601	NCREASES IN BASE RENTAL RATES .—After 23
602	602	a base rental rate is established for a lease or right- 24
603	603	of-way grant authorization for a renewable energy 25
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606	606	•HR 2301 IH
607	607	project, any increase in the base rental rate shall be 1
608	608	limited to the Implicit Price Deflator-Gross Product 2
609	609	Index published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis 3
610	610	of the Department of Commerce on the date of 4
611	611	issuance of the lease or right-of way grant author-5
612	612	ization. 6
613	613	(4) C
614	614	APACITY FEES.—The Secretary may con-7
615	615	sider charging a capacity fee for a renewable energy 8
616	616	project only if the Secretary determines that capac-9
617	617	ity fees are charged within the region or State in 10
618	618	which the renewable energy project is carried out, as 11
619	619	part of leaseholds on State or private land. 12
620	620	(b) B
621	621	ONDS.—The Secretary shall adopt a process for 13
622	622	establishing bond requirements for decommissioning re-14
623	623	newable energy projects that— 15
624	624	(1) do not establish a minimum per acre 16
625	625	amount; and 17
626	626	(2) are based on the difference between— 18
627	627	(A) the estimated, site-specific net costs of 19
628	628	reclamation of the covered land; and 20
629	629	(B) the salvage value of materials available 21
630	630	after decommissioning the renewable energy 22
631	631	project. 23
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634	634	•HR 2301 IH
635	635	SEC. 6. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES; RENEWABLE ENERGY 1
636	636	RESOURCE CONSERVATION FUND. 2
637	637	(a) D
638	638	ISPOSITION OFREVENUES.— 3
639	639	(1) A
640	640	VAILABILITY.—Except as provided in 4
641	641	paragraph (3), without further appropriation or fis-5
642	642	cal year limitation, of amounts collected from wind 6
643	643	and solar energy projects as bonus bids, rentals, 7
644	644	fees, or other payments under a right-of-way, per-8
645	645	mit, lease, or other authorization— 9
646	646	(A) for the period beginning on January 1, 10
647	647	2026, and ending on December 31, 2045— 11
648	648	(i) 25 percent shall be paid by the 12
649	649	Secretary of the Treasury to the State 13
650	650	within the boundaries of which the revenue 14
651	651	is derived; 15
652	652	(ii) 25 percent shall be paid by the 16
653	653	Secretary of the Treasury to the 1 or more 17
654	654	counties within the boundaries of which 18
655	655	the revenue is derived, to be allocated 19
656	656	among the counties based on the percent-20
657	657	age of land from which the revenue is de-21
658	658	rived; 22
659	659	(iii) 15 percent shall be deposited in 23
660	660	the Treasury and credited to the Bureau of 24
661	661	Land Management’s Renewable Energy 25
662	662	Management account to be made available 26
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665	665	•HR 2301 IH
666	666	to the Secretary to carry out sections 3 1
667	667	and 4 (including amendments made by 2
668	668	those sections), including the transfer of 3
669	669	the funds by the Bureau of Land Manage-4
670	670	ment to other Federal agencies and State 5
671	671	agencies to facilitate the processing of per-6
672	672	mits for renewable energy projects, with 7
673	673	priority given to using the amounts, to the 8
674	674	maximum extent practicable, without detri-9
675	675	mental impacts to emerging markets, expe-10
676	676	diting the issuance of permits required for 11
677	677	the development of wind and solar energy 12
678	678	projects in the States from which the reve-13
679	679	nues are derived; and 14
680	680	(iv) 35 percent shall be deposited in 15
681	681	the Fund; and 16
682	682	(B) beginning on January 1, 2046— 17
683	683	(i) 25 percent shall be paid by the 18
684	684	Secretary of the Treasury to the State 19
685	685	within the boundaries of which the revenue 20
686	686	is derived; 21
687	687	(ii) 25 percent shall be paid by the 22
688	688	Secretary of the Treasury to the 1 or more 23
689	689	counties within the boundaries of which 24
690	690	the revenue is derived, to be allocated 25
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693	693	•HR 2301 IH
694	694	among the counties based on the percent-1
695	695	age of land from which the revenue is de-2
696	696	rived; 3
697	697	(iii) 10 percent shall be deposited in 4
698	698	the Treasury and be made available to the 5
699	699	Secretary to carry out sections 3 and 4 6
700	700	(including amendments made by those sec-7
701	701	tions), including the transfer of the funds 8
702	702	by the Bureau of Land Management to 9
703	703	other Federal agencies and State agencies 10
704	704	to facilitate the processing of permits for 11
705	705	wind and solar energy projects, with pri-12
706	706	ority given to using the amounts, to the 13
707	707	maximum extent practicable, without detri-14
708	708	mental impacts to emerging markets, expe-15
709	709	diting the issuance of permits required for 16
710	710	the development of renewable energy 17
711	711	projects in the States from which the reve-18
712	712	nues are derived; and 19
713	713	(iv) 40 percent shall be deposited in 20
714	714	the Fund. 21
715	715	(2) R
716	716	ULE FOR PROJECTS LOCATED IN MUL -22
717	717	TIPLE STATES.—Not later than 180 days after the 23
718	718	date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 24
719	719	issue a proposed rule establishing a formula for the 25
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722	722	•HR 2301 IH
723	723	disposition of revenues under subparagraphs (A)(i) 1
724	724	and (B)(i) of paragraph (1) in a case in which a 2
725	725	wind and solar energy project is located in more 3
726	726	than 1 State. 4
727	727	(3) F
728	728	ILING FEES.—With respect to wind and 5
729	729	solar energy projects— 6
730	730	(A) paragraph (1) does not apply to 7
731	731	amounts collected from application filing fees 8
732	732	authorized under section 304 of the Federal 9
733	733	Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 10
734	734	U.S.C. 1734); and 11
735	735	(B) such application filing fees may be re-12
736	736	tained by the applicable agency to recover costs 13
737	737	associated with issuing the right-of-way, permit, 14
738	738	or other authorization associated with the appli-15
739	739	cation. 16
740	740	(b) P
741	741	AYMENTS TOSTATES ANDCOUNTIES.— 17
742	742	(1) I
743	743	N GENERAL.—Amounts paid to States and 18
744	744	counties under subsection (a)(1) shall be used con-19
745	745	sistent with section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act 20
746	746	(30 U.S.C. 191). 21
747	747	(2) P
748	748	AYMENTS IN LIEU OF TAXES .—A payment 22
749	749	to a county under subparagraph (A)(ii) or (B)(ii) of 23
750	750	subsection (a)(1) shall be in addition to a payment 24
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752	752	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 26
753	753	•HR 2301 IH
754	754	in lieu of taxes received by the county under chapter 1
755	755	69 of title 31, United States Code. 2
756	756	(c) R
757	757	ENEWABLEENERGYRESOURCECONSERVATION 3
758	758	F
759	759	UND.— 4
760	760	(1) I
761	761	N GENERAL.—There is established in the 5
762	762	Treasury a fund, to be known as the ‘‘Renewable 6
763	763	Energy Resource Conservation Fund’’, which shall 7
764	764	be administered by the Secretary. 8
765	765	(2) U
766	766	SE OF FUNDS.— 9
767	767	(A) I
768	768	N GENERAL.—The Secretary may 10
769	769	make amounts in the Fund available to Fed-11
770	770	eral, State, local, and Tribal agencies for dis-12
771	771	tribution in regions in which renewable energy 13
772	772	projects are located on Federal land, for the 14
773	773	purposes described in subparagraph (B). 15
774	774	(B) P
775	775	URPOSES.—The purposes referred to 16
776	776	in subparagraph (A) are— 17
777	777	(i) restoring and protecting— 18
778	778	(I) fish and wildlife habitat for 19
779	779	species affected by renewable energy 20
780	780	projects; 21
781	781	(II) fish and wildlife corridors for 22
782	782	species affected by renewable energy 23
783	783	projects; and 24
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786	786	•HR 2301 IH
787	787	(III) wetlands, streams, rivers, 1
788	788	and other natural water bodies in 2
789	789	areas affected by renewable energy 3
790	790	projects; and 4
791	791	(ii) preserving and improving rec-5
792	792	reational access to Federal land and water 6
793	793	in the applicable region through an ease-7
794	794	ment, right-of-way, or other instrument 8
795	795	from willing landowners for the purpose of 9
796	796	enhancing public access to existing Federal 10
797	797	land and water that is inaccessible or re-11
798	798	stricted due to renewable energy projects. 12
799	799	(3) C
800	800	OOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS .—The Sec-13
801	801	retary may enter into cooperative agreements with 14
802	802	State and Tribal agencies, nonprofit organizations, 15
803	803	and other appropriate entities to carry out the ac-16
804	804	tivities described in paragraph (2). 17
805	805	(4) I
806	806	NVESTMENT OF FUND .— 18
807	807	(A) I
808	808	N GENERAL.—Any amounts deposited 19
809	809	in the Fund shall earn interest in an amount 20
810	810	determined by the Secretary of the Treasury on 21
811	811	the basis of the current average market yield on 22
812	812	outstanding marketable obligations of the 23
813	813	United States of comparable maturities. 24
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816	816	•HR 2301 IH
817	817	(B) USE.—Any interest earned under sub-1
818	818	paragraph (A) may be deposited into the Fund 2
819	819	and used without further appropriation. 3
820	820	(5) R
821	821	EPORT TO CONGRESS.—At the end of each 4
822	822	fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the Com-5
823	823	mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Sen-6
824	824	ate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 7
825	825	House of Representatives a report identifying— 8
826	826	(A) the amounts described in subsection 9
827	827	(a) that were collected during that fiscal year, 10
828	828	organized by source; 11
829	829	(B) the amount and purpose of payments 12
830	830	made to each Federal, State, local, and Tribal 13
831	831	agency under paragraph (2) during that fiscal 14
832	832	year; and 15
833	833	(C) the amount remaining in the Fund at 16
834	834	the end of the fiscal year. 17
835	835	(6) I
836	836	NTENT OF CONGRESS .—It is the intent of 18
837	837	Congress that the revenues deposited and expended 19
838	838	from the Fund shall supplement (and not supplant) 20
839	839	annual appropriations for activities described in 21
840	840	paragraph (2). 22
841	841	SEC. 7. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 23
842	842	Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the 24
843	843	Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall continue 25
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846	846	•HR 2301 IH
847	847	to manage public land under the principles of multiple use 1
848	848	and sustained yield in accordance with title I of the Fed-2
849	849	eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 3
850	850	1701 et seq.) or the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re-4
851	851	sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.), 5
852	852	as applicable, for the purposes of land use planning, per-6
853	853	mit processing, and conducting environmental reviews. 7
854	854	Æ
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