HR 2663 · 114th Congress 2015–2017, ended

Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2015

Introduced Jun 4, 2015 Originated House Sponsor Paul A. Gosar R-AZ

Latest action · Jul 13, 2016 Subcommittee Hearings Held.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedJun 4, 2015
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2015

Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to extend through FY2020 the authorization for deposit and use of lease revenues under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970. Makes such funds available to the Department of the Interior for FY2015 and afterwards to implement both the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970.

Directs the Bureau of Land Management to establish priority and variance areas on covered land for geothermal, solar, and wind energy projects.

Requires Interior to establish a program to improve federal permit coordination with respect to renewable energy projects carried out on public land administered by Interior and not excluded from the development of geothermal, solar, or wind energy (covered land).

Defines "variance area" as covered land that is neither an exclusion area (not suitable for development of renewable energy projects) nor a priority area.

Establishes in the Treasury the Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund, to be available in regions affected by the development of wind or solar energy on federal land for: (1) protecting and restoring important fish and wildlife habitat; and (2) ensuring and improving right-of-way access to federal land and water in the impacted region for fishing, hunting, and other forms of outdoor recreation.

Requires the Department of Agriculture as well as Interior to determine the feasibility of carrying out a conservation banking program on federal land.

Denies the rental fee exemption for rights-of-way under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to wind or solar generation projects with a capacity of 20 megawatts or more that are issued a lease, right-of-way, permit, or other authorization.

Cosponsors 68

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jun 4, 2015 to Jul 14, 2016; 22 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-CA	Alan S. Lowenthal	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-AZ	Ann Kirkpatrick	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-NM	Ben Ray Luján	Original	Jun 4, 2015
R-MI	Dan Benishek	Original	Jun 4, 2015
R-AZ	David Schweikert	Original	Jun 4, 2015
R-CA	Doug LaMalfa	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-MA	James P. McGovern	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-CA	Jared Huffman	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-CO	Jared Polis	Original	Jun 4, 2015
R-NV	Joseph J. Heck	Original	Jun 4, 2015
R-ND	Kevin Cramer	Original	Jun 4, 2015
I-AZ	Kyrsten Sinema	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-PA	Matt Cartwright	Original	Jun 4, 2015
R-AZ	Matt Salmon	Original	Jun 4, 2015
R-ID	Michael K. Simpson	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-NM	Michelle Lujan Grisham	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-CA	Mike Thompson	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-CA	Raul Ruiz	Original	Jun 4, 2015
R-MT	Ryan K. Zinke	Original	Jun 4, 2015
R-NM	Stevan Pearce	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-CA	Tony Cárdenas	Original	Jun 4, 2015
R-AZ	Trent Franks	Original	Jun 4, 2015
D-AZ	Raúl M. Grijalva		Jun 8, 2015
R-NV	Cresent Hardy		Jun 10, 2015
D-NV	Dina Titus		Jun 10, 2015
D-CA	Michael M. Honda		Jun 10, 2015
D-VA	Gerald E. Connolly		Jun 12, 2015
R-AZ	Martha McSally		Jun 12, 2015
R-IA	Rod Blum		Jun 12, 2015
D-WI	Mark Pocan		Jun 16, 2015
D-MA	Niki Tsongas		Jun 16, 2015
D-IA	David Loebsack		Jun 25, 2015
D-WA	Suzan K. DelBene		Jun 25, 2015
D-CA	Barbara Lee		Jul 9, 2015
D-CA	Jim Costa		Jul 9, 2015
D-CO	Ed Perlmutter		Jul 16, 2015
R-NV	Mark E. Amodei		Jul 16, 2015
R-CA	Paul Cook		Jul 16, 2015
R-CO	Scott R. Tipton		Jul 16, 2015
R-WA	Cathy McMorris Rodgers		Jul 21, 2015
R-UT	Chris Stewart		Jul 21, 2015
R-AK	Don Young		Jul 21, 2015
R-SC	Jeff Duncan		Jul 23, 2015
R-ID	Raul R. Labrador		Jul 23, 2015
R-IN	Todd Rokita		Jul 27, 2015
D-VA	Donald S. Beyer, Jr.		Sep 29, 2015
R-CO	Mike Coffman		Oct 2, 2015
R-VA	Barbara Comstock		Oct 5, 2015
D-OR	Peter A. DeFazio		Oct 5, 2015
D-OR	Kurt Schrader		Oct 6, 2015
D-TN	Jim Cooper		Jan 12, 2016
D-CO	Diana DeGette		Jan 13, 2016
D-AZ	Ruben Gallego		Jan 13, 2016
D-CA	Scott H. Peters		Jan 13, 2016
R-OH	Steve Stivers		Jan 13, 2016
D-FL	Alcee L. Hastings		Feb 1, 2016
R-WA	Dan Newhouse		Feb 1, 2016
R-CA	David G. Valadao		Feb 1, 2016
R-CA	Jeff Denham		Feb 1, 2016
R-UT	Mia B. Love		Feb 1, 2016
D-MN	Collin C. Peterson		Feb 2, 2016
D-CA	Grace F. Napolitano		Feb 2, 2016
D-PA	Chaka Fattah		Apr 25, 2016
R-NY	Elise M. Stefanik		Jun 14, 2016
R-NY	Christopher P. Gibson		Jul 11, 2016
R-FL	Carlos Curbelo		Jul 12, 2016
D-MD	John K. Delaney		Jul 12, 2016
R-PA	Ryan A. Costello		Jul 14, 2016

Committees 2

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Natural Resources Committee	Referred Jun 4, 2015
	Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee	Referred Jun 19, 2015Hearings Jul 13, 2016
House	Agriculture Committee	Referred Jun 4, 2015
	Forestry and Horticulture Subcommittee	Referred Jul 13, 2015

Actions 5

Everything that happened, newest first.

Jul 13, 2016Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Jul 13, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry.
Jun 19, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Jun 4, 2015Introduced in House
Jun 4, 2015Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2. (The Property Clause.) The Property Clause gives Congress the power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and states that nothing in the Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any Particular State. Currently, the federal government possesses approximately 1.8 billion acres of land. The U.S. Constitution specifically addresses the relationship of the federal government to land. The Property Clause gives Congress plenary power and full- authority over federal property. The U.S. Supreme Court has described Congress's power to legislate under this Clause as ``without limitation.'' This Act falls squarely within the express Constitutional power set forth in the Property Clause.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 89, June 4, 2015, pages H3916, H3915.

Printed hearings 1

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

Number	Hearing	Committee	Held
Serial No. 114-12	OVERSIGHT HEARING ON GAO REPORT DOCUMENTS BLM'S CHRONIC MISMANAGEMENT OF WIND AND SOLAR RECLAMATION BONDS50 pages	Natural Resources Committee	Jun 24, 2015

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
S 1407	Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2015	Identical bill	Jun 9, 2015

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To promote the development of renewable energy on public land, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced: Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2015

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Jun 4, 2015Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.