Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2026

Regulatory or Legal Changes Top 1

Geothermal Lease Cost-Recovery Authority

Authorizes the Department of the Interior (DOI) to require geothermal lease applicants and holders to reimburse the United States for all reasonable administrative costs incurred in processing applications, permits, and approvals, and in inspecting and monitoring geothermal exploration, drilling, and facility operations, with discretion to reduce reimbursement amounts for economic hardship or to promote geothermal resource development.

• Population Scope Low Directly affects only geothermal lease applicants and holders on federal lands — a narrow subset of a single energy industry sector.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No funds are appropriated; recovered costs are credited as discretionary offsetting collections available only through future appropriations acts, with no dollar ceiling specified.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Creates a new statutory cost-recovery authority where none previously existed under the Geothermal Steam Act, imposing a potential reimbursement obligation on a defined class of lessees — a new procedural-financial duty binding agency conduct and applicants, rather than a sweeping substantive mandate.
• Degree of Discretion Granted High The Secretary of the Interior (DOI) 'may' require reimbursement and retains broad discretion to reduce amounts for economic hardship or to promote geothermal development, with no floor, formula, or appeal mechanism constraining that judgment.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Imposes no new enforcement infrastructure, penalties, or compliance apparatus — reimbursement is collected administratively as part of existing leasing processes already managed by DOI.
• Temporal Commitment Low Authority expressly expires September 30, 2032 — a hard sunset within six years of enactment that self-terminates unless Congress affirmatively reauthorizes it.