Bruce Westerman

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 390) to amend the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-333; 54 U.S.C. 320101 note) to include all of Saratoga and Washington Counties in the boundaries of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, as amended.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 390, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Curtis), the lead sponsor of this bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7332) to require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain Federal land to the State of Utah for inclusion in certain State parks, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 7332, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Donalds), who is the lead sponsor of the bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5103, the Fishery Improvement to Streamline untimely regulatory Hurdles post Emergency Situation, or the FISHES, Act. This legislation, sponsored by the gentleman from Florida, Congressman Byron Donalds, will protect States and fishing communities from unnecessary delays in the disaster recovery process. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, States and communities affected by fishery disasters can petition for funding to assist in response and recovery efforts. However, affected States and communities have experienced delays in obtaining the approvals needed to access these funds. H.R. 5103 requires the Secretary of Commerce to review disaster spending plans submitted by requesters within 10 days. Additionally, while the legislation allows the Office of Management and Budget to review spending plans, it makes it clear that they may not, and I repeat may not, delay the statutory timelines. This will ensure accountability and consistency in the fishery disaster response process, providing certainty to States and fishing communities in times of recovery. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. In closing, Mr. Speaker, many times in recent years this body has taken steps to help communities recover in the wake of natural disasters. Programs designed to help communities recover from these disasters must work effectively and help communities to recover in a timely manner. Too often government bureaucracy can act as an impediment to recovery efforts. We can improve this process by ensuring the Office of Management and Budget does not unnecessarily delay it. Once again, I thank Congressman Byron Donalds for his work on this issue and the many Members and stakeholders who have supported this effort. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 5103, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6395) to amend the Energy Act of 2020 to require the Secretary of the Interior to include the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultations regarding designations of critical minerals, elements, substances, and materials.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I think we have to ask ourselves, do we want environmental growth in this country to be based on growing the bureaucracy and spending more money on permits, or do we actually want to make things? Do we want to produce energy? Do we want to use the resources that we have? Geothermal operators are often required to complete six separate NEPA reviews to get a Federal permit: one for exploration, another if there is a subsurface anomaly, a third for drilling a slim confirmation hole, a fourth to develop the well field, a fifth for the power plant itself, and a sixth if the project is speculative exploration on lands not previously leased. The status quo is a duplicative and wasteful process and prevents the United States from developing this very clean energy source. Performing NEPA six times does not provide six times the environmental benefit, rather less duplicative NEPA reviews will actually increase the rate at which these clean energy resources come online. This bill is an attempt to put more clean energy resources on the grid at a faster pace. This amendment would undermine that goal. I oppose it, and I urge my colleagues to oppose it. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment. It would gut the bill by conditioning enactment on a determination by the Secretary of the Interior that the Bureau of Land Management and other relevant Federal permitting agencies have received adequate funding to resolve permitting staff shortages. If Members felt the urge to laugh when I stated that, they are probably not too far off because this amendment doesn't really pass the laugh test. I have never heard of a Federal agency admitting to having enough funding or enough staff, and this amendment simply is a poison pill because the action it is conditioned on simply will never happen. The issue is not DOI staff capacity but burdensome permitting processes that take years, produce duplicative reviews, and consume thousands of hours for regulators and project proponents alike. Actually, we passed a bill just last week that will help resolve any issue that may be there. H.R. 7409 would decrease the administrative load on staff and field offices by not requiring a Federal permit for geothermal energy produced on State and private lands. That bill would rapidly streamline the approval process by relying on the States' permitting procedures rather than the duplicative Federal process. My friends on the other side of the aisle had a chance last week to free agency staffers from their redundant work, but many opposed the bill. Let's not forget that last Congress, as the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) stated, the Democrats rammed through a reconciliation package with a billion dollars for permitting. DOI had $150 million, and from that bill, it was to provide for the hiring and training of personnel, the development of programmatic environmental documents, the procurement of technical or scientific services for environmental reviews, the development of environmental data or information systems, stakeholder and community engagement. In fact, the Department has grown by 4,000 full-time equivalents from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2023. More funding and bureaucrats aren't what is needed now. What is needed is for DOI to recognize energy permitting as a priority and create a plan for meeting the required timelines. We must continue working here to pass more permitting reform measures to help alleviate the permitting burden on important energy projects. These measures will also reduce the redundant permitting tasks performed by the Federal workforce. H.R. 1449 will hold the Department's feet to the fire by forcing them to act on geothermal leasing and permitting in a timely manner. For those reasons, I oppose the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Fulcher), who is the author of the bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 1449, the Committing Leases for Energy Access Now Act, or the CLEAN Act. First, I thank my friend and colleague Representative Russ Fulcher for being a leader on geothermal energy and for his dedication to this issue. Geothermal energy is poised to be an important part of America's energy portfolio. Some predictions indicate that geothermal energy can provide up to 90 gigawatts of electricity by 2050. These are great metrics and goals to strive for, but we will never reach this goal if we keep the status quo for permitting and leasing geothermal energy. Current law requires multiple layers of environmental review for geothermal projects, which leads to higher costs and longer development timelines compared to our power production efforts. H.R. 1449, the CLEAN Act, would streamline the Federal leasing and permitting process for geothermal energy and spur the development of this renewable energy source in the United States. California is a prime example of a Western State with huge geothermal potential, but a lease sale has not been held by the DOI in that State since 2016. H.R. 1449 would fix lapses like this by requiring the Secretary of the Interior to hold annual geothermal lease sales rather than once every 2 years. It will also force the Secretary to hold a replacement lease sale if one is missed. In addition, this bill requires the Secretary of the Interior to notify an applicant whether or not its geothermal drilling permit application is complete within 30 days of receiving the application. If Interior determines that the application is complete, then it must issue a final decision on the applications within 30 days. Some may argue that these deadlines are too fast and don't allow adequate time for the bureaucracy to complete reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act and other environmental laws, but this simply is not the case. The bill itself does not waive the agency's responsibilities under current environmental laws. We all know from experience that agencies will not issue permits until they meet the necessary legal requirements. The potential for geothermal energy in this country cannot be understated. There are myriad hot spots in the West that are prime for developing this kind of energy. We must do all we can to ensure that bureaucratic red tape does not hamper this resource moving forward. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, again, the bill does nothing to waive NEPA requirements. It just simply speeds up the timeline. It shouldn't take an agency 90 days to notify an applicant if an application is complete or not. We need more of this clean, renewable energy. To get more of it, we need to get a permitting process that works. Unfortunately, this amendment would slow down the process even more. That is why I am opposed to the amendment. I encourage others to vote against it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, in closing, I again urge my colleagues to vote in support of H.R. 1449. As has been said, geothermal energy in the U.S. has potential to generate 90 gigawatts of power. To put that in perspective, that would be like 150 to 200 large power-producing plants. It is energy, electricity, coming from non-carbon-emitting sources and from a renewable resource. This should be a no-brainer for both sides of the aisle as we face challenges with as much as an increased rate of three times per year more electricity demand than what we have seen in the past. We know we need energy from anywhere we can get it in greater volumes than we have had before. Just this last week, we passed a bill that would streamline the permitting process for geothermal plants on State and private lands. This bill is another commonsense solution that will help bring our lagging geothermal industry online. It is time we build more geothermal plants to reach our full geothermal potential in this country and unleash America's energy resources for our citizens and allies around the world. It is imperative that we increase the rate of leasing geothermal plants so that American citizens can enjoy the low-cost, reliable, and renewable energy that comes from these plants. Again, Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 1449, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chairman, it is good to see my colleague, Mr. Grijalva, here in the Chamber today. Although it is good to see him presenting his amendment, I oppose the amendment. This amendment attempts to mirror the language in the Mineral Leasing Act for oil and gas production on Federal lands, but, unfortunately, there are some key differences. If my colleagues look at it in its whole, the amendment would make it more difficult to lease geothermal resources than to lease oil and gas. In fact, this amendment would triple the timeline for an agency to respond to a project applicant on whether their geothermal drilling permit application is complete or deficient. This is not a timeline for permit approval. It is a timeline for simply letting someone know if they submitted a complete application. Under current law, the BLM is already required to provide similar affirmation on oil and gas permit applications within 10 days. This amendment would create a timeline for geothermal permit applicants nine times longer than those BLM is already held to for oil and gas. The amendment also states that the NEPA review must be complete before final permit approval. This language is unnecessary. The bill does nothing to waive NEPA requirements. Additionally, the amendment would create a new option for the BLM to deny geothermal permits, effectively pulling the rug out from under energy projects at the last step in the permitting process. Mr. Chairman, for these reasons, I oppose the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 1449.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 7409.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7409, the Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act, or the HEATS Act. First, I thank the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim), my friend, for being a leader on this issue and working with my staff and me to bring this bipartisan bill to the floor. H.R. 7409, the HEATS Act, is a commonsense bill that would expedite the development of geothermal energy on non-Federal lands containing Federal minerals. Currently, geothermal operators on non-Federal land producing any amount of Federal resources must abide by all Federal laws and permitting processes, even if the share of Federal minerals is minuscule. Under this bill, such projects would still undergo a rigorous State permitting process but would not be bogged down by duplicative and burdensome Federal permitting processes. H.R. 7409 stipulates that geothermal wells on non-Federal lands are not subject to NEPA, ESA, or NHPA if the United States holds an ownership interest of less than 50 percent of the geothermal estate and the operator receives a drilling permit from the respective State. Notably, the bill would not impact the royalty paid to the Federal Government. Therefore, it would not reduce the Federal revenues generated by geothermal production. In fact, it would actually increase Federal revenues by reducing the administrative responsibilities of Federal agencies and expediting the permitting process for geothermal development. Enhanced geothermal systems, or EGS, are created by injecting fluid deep underground in carefully controlled conditions to create new fractures and causing preexisting fractures to open, increasing permeability below the surface. The process employs established technology already commonly utilized in the energy sector, and the DOE estimates that EGS could generate 60 gigawatts of electricity by 2050, which represents 8.5 percent of the U.S. generation capacity. The best geothermal reservoirs suitable for EGS are located in States with Federal minerals, including Colorado, California, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, and Oregon. Mr. Speaker, Federal streamlining efforts like this bill will be necessary to realize EGS' full potential. Federal minerals, however, come with red tape. This bill provides a rational approach to streamlining the development of a proven renewable energy source. This commonsense bill will help spur geothermal energy development and promote American energy independence as part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).