SB 4605, the Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2026, would amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to authorize the Department of the Interior to recover certain administrative and oversight costs from geothermal lease applicants and lease holders. For the period beginning on enactment and ending September 30, 2032, the Secretary of the Interior could require reimbursement for the costs of processing geothermal lease-related applications and approvals, including operations plans, drilling permits, utilization plans, site licenses, facility construction permits, commercial use permits, and other related approvals.
The bill also covers federal inspection and monitoring costs tied to geothermal development, including geophysical exploration, drilling, plugging and abandonment of wells, and construction, operation, termination, and reclamation of geothermal facilities and well sites. The Secretary would be allowed to reduce reimbursement if full payment would create economic hardship or if a lower amount would better promote geothermal resource development. Reimbursed amounts would be credited to the relevant Interior appropriations account as discretionary offsetting collections and could be used only as provided in advance in appropriations acts.
In addition to the fee authority, the bill requires the Secretary of the Interior to submit a report within five years assessing how the new cost-recovery authority affected the Bureau of Land Management’s geothermal program and recommending whether the authority should be reauthorized or updated. The report must be prepared in consultation with the geothermal industry and other stakeholders and made publicly available.
The bill’s impact would be to shift some of the federal administrative burden of geothermal leasing and oversight from taxpayers to project applicants and operators, while potentially giving Interior more resources to process permits and monitor compliance. It would amend the Geothermal Steam Act directly and affect the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management, geothermal developers, lease holders, and applicants seeking federal geothermal approvals.
Based on the available record, the bill appears to be generally supportive of geothermal development and administrative efficiency, with no recorded votes or committee debate provided. The inclusion of hardship reductions and a future review report suggests an effort to balance cost recovery with industry concerns about affordability and program growth. Because there are no transcripts or votes, there is no documented opposition in the provided materials, but likely points of contention would include whether the federal government should charge applicants for these costs, how much discretion the Secretary should have to set or reduce fees, and whether the fee authority could discourage geothermal investment.
The bill would amend section 6 of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to create a temporary cost-recovery mechanism for geothermal leasing, permitting, inspection, and monitoring activities. It would allow the Department of the Interior to collect reimbursements from applicants and lease holders, credit those amounts to applicable Interior accounts as offsetting collections, and use them for geothermal program administration subject to appropriations limits. It would also require a later report to Congress on the effects of the change and possible reauthorization or updates.
The available context suggests a generally favorable or pragmatic sentiment toward the bill, as it is framed as a way to support the federal geothermal program by funding the administrative work associated with leasing and oversight. There are no recorded votes or committee remarks in the provided materials, so no formal support or opposition is documented. The bill’s built-in hardship relief and consultation/reporting requirements indicate an attempt to address likely industry concerns while maintaining support for geothermal development.
The main potential points of contention are the new reimbursement authority itself, the scope of costs that can be charged, and the Secretary of the Interior’s discretion to reduce fees. Industry stakeholders may support faster or better-funded permitting but resist added costs, while others may argue that applicants should not bear the full burden of federal oversight. The bill anticipates some of these concerns by allowing reductions for economic hardship and by requiring consultation with the geothermal industry and other stakeholders before the report is prepared.