H.R. 5638

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5638 Reported in House (RH)]

<DOC>

Union Calendar No. 575
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5638

[Report No. 119-661]

To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to require royalties on 
production from leased geothermal resources to be based on production 
from each electric generating facility, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 30, 2025

Mr. Kennedy of Utah introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Natural Resources

May 20, 2026

Additional sponsor: Mr. Begich

May 20, 2026

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on 
September 30, 2025]

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to require royalties on 
production from leased geothermal resources to be based on production 
from each electric generating facility, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Geothermal Royalty Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. GEOTHERMAL ROYALTIES.

(a) Definitions.--Section 2 of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 
U.S.C. 1001) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(h) `Geothermal electric generating facility' means a 
facility, including all necessary equipment or structures 
(including turbines and cooling equipment), that produces 
electricity using geothermal resources. For purposes of section 
5(a)(1), a facility described in the preceding sentence shall 
be considered a separate facility from any other such facility 
unless the facility shares a turbine with any other such 
facility.
``(i) `In-service date' means, with respect to a geothermal 
electric generating facility, the date on which the geothermal 
electric generating facility begins operating.''.
(b) Geothermal Royalties.--Section 5(a)(1) of the Geothermal Steam 
Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1004(a)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)--
(A) by inserting ``with respect to a geothermal 
electric generating facility producing electricity from 
such resources,'' before ``not less than'';
(B) by inserting ``by the geothermal electric 
generating facility'' after ``produced''; and
(C) by striking ``the first 10 years of production 
under the lease'' and inserting ``each year of the 10-
year period following the in-service date of the 
geothermal electric generating facility''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) by inserting ``with respect to a geothermal 
electric generating facility producing electricity from 
such resources,'' before ``not less than'';
(B) by inserting ``by the geothermal electric 
generating facility'' after ``produced''; and
(C) by striking ``such 10-year period'' and 
inserting ``the period of 10 years described in 
subparagraph (A)''.
Union Calendar No. 575

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 5638

[Report No. 119-661]

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to require royalties on 
production from leased geothermal resources to be based on production 
from each electric generating facility, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

May 20, 2026

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed