GEO Act

The bill would amend Section 4 of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to impose a 60-day processing deadline on the Secretary of the Interior for applications related to geothermal drilling permits, sundry notices, notices to proceed, rights-of-way, and any other authorization under a valid existing geothermal lease. The clock would start only after all required federal reviews are complete — including reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. Critically, the deadline would apply even if a civil lawsuit affecting the application is pending, unless a federal court has specifically vacated the underlying lease or issued injunctive relief against it.

The bill would not grant federal courts any new authority and explicitly preserves existing judicial review of geothermal leases and permits. It applies only to authorizations under valid existing leases, not to the initial leasing process. No new environmental exemptions are created; all current review requirements remain in place before the 60-day window begins.

Geothermal energy developers holding valid existing federal leases who are awaiting drilling permits or other project authorizations from the Interior Department. Federal agencies — primarily Interior — that review and issue those permits. Environmental and historic-preservation review bodies whose completed findings would trigger the 60-day clock. Communities and environments near proposed geothermal sites remain subject to existing NEPA and ESA protections before the clock starts.

Developers have faced extended permit limbo when litigation over a related lease proceeds slowly through courts, even after all environmental reviews are finished. A binding 60-day post-review deadline would reduce that uncertainty, potentially accelerating geothermal project development on existing federal leases. The narrow court-ordered suspension carve-out means the deadline can be paused only by an actual judicial order — not merely the filing of a lawsuit.

The Secretary of the Interior would need to track the completion date of all required federal reviews for each pending geothermal application and then issue an approval or denial within 60 days of that date. No new rulemaking is explicitly required, but Interior would need to monitor active litigation on each underlying lease to determine whether a court order suspends the deadline. The bill contains no reporting requirements, grant mechanisms, or phase-in schedules. Enforcement would likely run through existing administrative and judicial review channels for agency inaction.