HR-5617-119
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 573.
Sponsored by Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ)
What it does
This bill would direct the Department of the Interior to identify standard procedures and guidelines for geothermal leasing and permitting on federal lands within one year of enactment. Within 270 days after that, the Secretary of the Interior would be required to publish an updated version of the Bureau of Land Management's "Gold Book" — a field-use manual last revised in 2007 — incorporating geothermal-specific standards. The bill also requires the Secretary to consult with other federal agencies and outside stakeholders before publication, and to review and potentially update the Gold Book at least once every five years.
Who benefits
Geothermal energy developers and companies seeking to operate on federal lands, who would gain clearer and more current permitting guidance. Bureau of Land Management field offices, which would have standardized procedures to apply consistently. States with significant federal land and geothermal potential (e.g., Nevada, California, Idaho, Utah, Oregon) whose economies could benefit from expanded geothermal development. Electricity consumers in regions where geothermal energy could expand supply and potentially reduce costs. Renewable energy advocates who view geothermal as a reliable baseload clean energy source.
Who is hurt
Competing energy industries (oil, gas, solar, wind) that may face increased competition for federal land leases if geothermal development accelerates. Environmental and conservation groups that prefer slower, more case-by-case permitting review and may view streamlined procedures as reducing environmental scrutiny. Federal agency staff who would bear the administrative burden of conducting the review, stakeholder consultations, and publication within the bill's deadlines. Taxpayers who would fund the administrative costs of the review and publication process, though those costs are likely modest.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the existing Gold Book has not been updated since 2007 and was written primarily for oil and gas operations, leaving geothermal developers without clear, technology-specific guidance — creating delays, inconsistency across BLM field offices, and a chilling effect on domestic clean energy development. They contend that geothermal energy is a reliable, 24/7 baseload renewable resource with significant untapped potential on federal lands, and that modernizing permitting standards would reduce bureaucratic uncertainty without weakening environmental protections, since the bill explicitly requires that guidelines support "environmentally responsible" operations.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that directing the Interior Department to prioritize "efficient" permitting could pressure BLM field offices to approve geothermal projects faster at the expense of thorough environmental review, particularly in ecologically sensitive areas on federal lands. They contend that a single standardized Gold Book may not adequately account for the wide variation in geothermal geology, hydrology, and local ecosystems across different regions, and that the five-year review cycle may be too infrequent to keep pace with evolving environmental science and site-specific conditions that case-by-case review would better capture.
Constitutional context
Congress has broad authority to manage federal lands under the Property Clause (Art. IV, §3, cl. 2), and to regulate energy development through the Commerce Clause (Art. I, §8, cl. 3). This bill directs agency action rather than creating sweeping new regulatory authority, so it is unlikely to raise major questions doctrine concerns under West Virginia v. EPA (2022). Post-Loper Bright (2024), any specific guidelines the Interior Department publishes would face independent judicial review rather than automatic deference if challenged.
Checks and balances
The executive branch (Department of the Interior/BLM) gains a defined administrative mandate, but Congress retains oversight through the reporting and publication requirements; courts retain authority to review any resulting guidelines under the post-Loper Bright independent judgment standard.
Historical precedent
The BLM's "Gold Book" for oil and gas (last revised 2007) is the direct predecessor document this bill would update; Congress has previously directed similar agency guidance publications for other energy sectors under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.