H.R. 398 — Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2025

This section establishes authority for the Secretary of the Interior, from the date of enactment through September 30, 2032, to require applicants for or holders of geothermal leases to reimburse the United States for reasonable administrative and other costs of (1) processing lease applications, including for operations plans, drilling permits, site licenses, facility construction permits, commercial use permits, and related approvals; and (2) inspecting and monitoring geophysical exploration, well drilling and abandonment, and well site or facility construction, operation, termination, and reclamation. The Secretary must consider existing cooperative cost-sharing agreements and may reduce reimbursements for economic hardship or to promote geothermal resource development; amounts collected are credited as discretionary offsetting collections, available only as provided in appropriations acts for those purposes.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the geothermal industry and other stakeholders, to submit to the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and to make publicly available on the Department of the Interior website, not later than 5 years after enactment a report that includes (1) an assessment of how the amendments made by section 2 affected the Bureau of Land Management's geothermal program; (2) recommendations for reauthorization of section 6(j) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, as added by this Act; and (3) other recommendations for updates to that section and the Bureau of Land Management's geothermal program. In developing the report, the Secretary must solicit facts or information from the geothermal industry and other stakeholders.