Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 119.djvu/679

 PUBLIC LAW 109–58—AUG. 8, 2005

119 STAT. 661

tract for which a competitive lease sale is held, but for which the Secretary does not receive any bids in a competitive lease sale. ‘‘(d) PENDING LEASE APPLICATIONS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be a priority for the Secretary, and for the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to National Forest Systems land, to ensure timely completion of administrative actions, including amendments to applicable forest plans and resource management plans, necessary to process applications for geothermal leasing pending on the date of enactment of this subsection. All future forest plans and resource management plans for areas with high geothermal resource potential shall consider geothermal leasing and development. ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—An application described in paragraph (1) and any lease issued pursuant to the application— ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), shall be subject to this section as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this paragraph; or ‘‘(B) at the election of the applicant, shall be subject to this section as in effect on the effective date of this paragraph. ‘‘(e) LEASES SOLD AS A BLOCK.—If information is available to the Secretary indicating a geothermal resource that could be produced as 1 unit can reasonably be expected to underlie more than 1 parcel to be offered in a competitive lease sale, the parcels for such a resource may be offered for bidding as a block in the competitive lease sale.’’. SEC. 223. DIRECT USE.

(a) FEES FOR DIRECT USE.—Section 5 of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1004) is amended— (1) in subsection (c), by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; (2) by redesignating subsections (a) through (d) as paragraphs (1) through (4), respectively; (3) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ after ‘‘SEC. 5.’’; and (4) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(b) DIRECT USE.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall establish a schedule of fees, in lieu of royalties for geothermal resources, that a lessee or its affiliate— ‘‘(A) uses for a purpose other than the commercial generation of electricity; and ‘‘(B) does not sell. ‘‘(2) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—The schedule of fees— ‘‘(A) may be based on the quantity or thermal content, or both, of geothermal resources used; ‘‘(B) shall ensure a fair return to the United States for use of the resource; and ‘‘(C) shall encourage development of the resource. ‘‘(3) STATE, TRIBAL, OR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—If a State, tribal, or local government is the lessee and uses geothermal resources without sale and for public purposes other than commercial generation of electricity, the Secretary shall charge only a nominal fee for use of the resource.

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