§ 15871 — Coordination Of Geothermal Leasing And Permitting On Federal Lands

(a) Not later than 180 days after August 8, 2005, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall enter into and submit to Congress a memorandum of understanding in accordance with this section, the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (as amended by this Act) [30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.], and other applicable laws, regarding coordination of leasing and permitting for geothermal development of public lands and National Forest System lands under their respective jurisdictions. (b) The memorandum of understanding shall— (1) establish an administrative procedure for processing geothermal lease applications, including lines of authority, steps in application processing, and time limits for application procession; (2) establish a 5-year program for geothermal leasing of lands in the National Forest System, and a process for updating that program every 5 years; and (3) establish a program for reducing the backlog of geothermal lease application pending on January 1, 2005, by 90 percent within the 5-year period beginning on August 8, 2005, including, as necessary, by issuing leases, rejecting lease applications for failure to comply with the provisions of the regulations under which they were filed, or determining that an original applicant (or the applicant’s assigns, heirs, or estate) is no longer interested in pursuing the lease application. (c) The memorandum of understanding shall establish a joint data retrieval system that is capable of tracking lease and permit applications and providing to the applicant information as to their status within the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, including an estimate of the time required for administrative action.