Energy Global: Bills promoting geothermal passed by House of Representatives
Two bills led by US Senator, Catherine Cortez Masto to promote geothermal energy have been passed by the House of Representatives. The Streamlining Thermal Energy through Advanced Mechanisms (STEAM) Act and the Geothermal Ombudsman for National Deployment and Optimal Reviews Act were among various geothermal bills included in H.R. 5631, the Geothermal Energy Advancement Act.
The STEAM Act is led by Cortez Masto and Senator Lisa Murkowski in the Senate and by Representatives Susie Lee and Celeste Maloy in the House. This bill would expedite geothermal exploration and development in previously studied or developed areas, as is the case for oil and gas development projects, allowing certain projects to bypass cumbersome, repetitive environmental impact studies.
The Geothermal Ombudsman for National Deployment and Optimal Reviews Act, led by Cortez Masto and Senator James Risch in the Senate and Representatives Jeff Hurd and Susie Lee in the House, would streamline geothermal permitting on federal land by directing the Secretary of the Interior to appoint a geothermal ombudsman to lead a new Geothermal Permitting Task Force. The ombudsman would work with different Bureau of Land Management field offices and state offices to coordinate geothermal permitting and find solutions to geothermal permitting issues.