Allows the Interior Department to charge geothermal lease applicants and holders for the government's costs of processing applications and inspecting sites through September 30, 2032.

Official title: Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2025

Next stop House floor: awaiting a vote

Timeline each lane is a chamber; dates pull from congress.gov actions

House

Introduced 14-JAN-2025

Referred 14-JAN-2025

Approved by committee 05-MAR-2026

Reported 20-MAY-2026

On the calendar 20-MAY-2026

Key points

Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to require geothermal lease applicants and holders to reimburse reasonable administrative and inspection costs.
Covers application processing, related permits, and inspections of exploration, well drilling and plugging, and well site construction and reclamation.
Lets the Secretary reduce reimbursement to avoid economic hardship or to promote greater use of geothermal resources, and considers existing cost-share agreements.
Credits reimbursed funds to Interior accounts as discretionary offsetting collections, available only as provided in appropriations acts.
Requires a report to Congress within five years assessing the changes and recommending whether to reauthorize the cost-recovery authority.

AI-generated from the Reported in House text of 20-MAY-2026 · verify · report an error

Official CRS summary

Covers an older version. The newest CRS summary describes the bill as of "Introduced in House" (14-JAN-2025); the text has changed since (Reported in House, 20-MAY-2026).

CRS is the Library of Congress's nonpartisan research office. Read it on congress.gov

Committee referrals (2)

Policy area

Energy

Sponsor Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) Cosponsors · 0

No cosponsors.

congress.gov page Reported in House (20-MAY-2026) Introduced in House (14-JAN-2025)