(d) Thirty per centum of the sums appropriated under section 6 for any fiscal year shall be made available for grants under this section for such fiscal year. 1704)

(16 U.S.C.

Reports to President and Congress

Sec. 5. The Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture shall annually prepare a joint report detailing the activities carried out under this Act and providing recommendations. Each report for a program year shall be submitted concurrently to the President and the Congress not later than April 1 following the close of that program year. (16 U.S.C. 1705)

Authorization of Appropriations

Sec. 6. There are authorized to be appropriated amounts not to exceed $60,000,000 for each fiscal year, which amounts shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out the purposes of this Act. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds appropriated for any fiscal year to carry out this Act shall remain available for obligation and expenditure until the end of the fiscal year following the fiscal year for which appropriated. (16 U.S.C. 1706)

Geothermal Steam Act of 1970

• Act of December 24, 1970 (P.L. 91-581, 84 Stat. 1566; 30 U.S.C. 1001-1003, 1005(a), 1006, 1007(a), 1007(c), 1011, 1013, 1014(b), 1016, 1021, 1022(b), 1023, 1024)

Sec. 2. As used in this Act, the term-

(a) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior; (b) "geothermal lease" means a lease issued under authority of this Act;

(c) "geothermal steam and associated geothermal resources' means (i) all products of geothermal processes, embracing indigenous steam, hot water, and hot brines; (ii) steam and other gases, hot water, and hot brines resulting from water, gas, or other fluids artificially introduced into geothermal formations; (iii) heat or other associated energy found in geothermal formations; and (iv) any byproduct derived from them;

(d) "byproduct" means any mineral or minerals (exclusive of oil, hydrocarbon gas, and helium, which are found in solution or in association with geothermal steam and which have a value of less than 75 per centum of the value of the geothermal steam or are not, because of quantity, quality, or technical difficulties in extraction and production, of sufficient value to warrant extraction and production by themselves;

(e) "known geothermal resources area" means an area in which the geology, nearby discoveries, competitive interests, or other indicia would, in the opinion of the Secretary, engender a belief in men who are experienced in the subject matter that the prospects for extraction of geothermal steam or associated geothermal resources are good enough to warrant expenditures of money for that purpose.

Leases

Sec. 3. Subject to the provisions of section 15 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior may issue leases for the development and utilization of geothermal steam and associated geothermal resources (1) in lands administered by him, including public, withdrawn, and acquired lands, (2) in any national forest or other lands administered by the Department of Agriculture through the Forest Service, including public, withdrawn, and acquired lands, and (3) in lands which have been conveyed by the United States subject

to a reservation to the United States of the geothermal steam and associated geothermal resources therein.

Bids

Sec. 4. If lands to be leased under this Act are within any known geothermal resources area, they shall be leased to the highest responsible qualified bidder by competitive bidding under regulations formulated by the Secretary. If the lands to be leased are not within any known geothermal resources area, the qualified person first making application for the lease shall be entitled to a lease of such lands without competitive bidding.

Sec. 6. (a) Geothermal leases shall be for a primary term of ten years. If geothermal steam is produced or utilized in commercial quantities within this term, such lease shall continue for so long thereafter as geothermal steam is produced or utilized in commercial quantities, but such continuation shall not exceed an additional forty years.

Sec. 7. A geothermal lease shall embrace a reasonably compact area of not more than two thousand five hundred and sixty acres, except where a departure there from is occasioned by an irregular subdivision or subdivisions.

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Readjustment

Sec. 8. (a) The Secretary may readjust the terms and conditions, except as otherwise provided herein, of any geothermal lease issued under this Act at not less than ten-year intervals beginning ten years after the date the geothermal steam is produced, as determined by the Secretary. Each geothermal lease issued under this Act shall provide for such readjustment.

(c) Any readjustment of the terms and conditions as to use, protection, or restoration of the surface of any lease of lands withdrawn or acquired in aid of a function of a Federal department or agency other than the Department of

the Interior may be made only upon notice to, and with the approval of, such department or agency.

Sec. 12. Leases may be terminated by the Secretary for any violation of the regulations or lease terms after thirty days notice provided that such violation is not corrected within the notice period, or in the event the violation is such that it cannot be corrected within the notice period then provided that lessee has not commenced in good faith within said notice period to correct such violation and thereafter to proceed diligently to correct such violation.

Sec. 14. Subject to the other provisions of this Act, a lessee shall be entitled to use so much of the surface of the land covered by his geothermal lease as may be found by the Secretary to be necessary for the production, utilization, and conservation of geothermal resources.

(b) Geothermal leases for lands withdrawn or acquired in aid of functions of the Department of Agriculture may be issued only with the consent of, and subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by, the head of that Department to insure adequate utilization of the lands for the purposes for which they were withdrawn or acquired. Geothermal leases for lands to which section 24 of Federal Power Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 818), is applicable, may be issued only with the consent of, and subject to, such terms and conditions as the Federal Power Commission may prescribe to insure adequate utilization of such lands for power and related purposes.

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Multiple Use Management

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Sec. 17. Administration of this Act shall be under the principles of multiple use of lands and resources, and geothermal leases shall, insofar as feasible, allow for coexistence of other leases of the same lands for deposits

of minerals under the laws applicable to them, for the location and production of claims under the mining laws, and for other uses of areas covered by them. Operations under such other leases or for such other uses, however, shall not unreasonably interfere with or endanger operations under any lease issued pursuant to this Act, nor shall operations under leases so issued unreasonably interfere with or endanger operations under any lease, license, claim, or permit issued pursuant to the provisions of any other Act.

Sec. 22. Nothing in this Act shall constitute an express or implied claim or denial on the part of the

Federal Government as to its exemption from State water laws.

(b) Rights to develop and utilize geothermal steam and associated geothermal resources underlying lands owned by the United States may be acquired solely in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Rules and Regulations

Sec. 24. The Secretary shall prescribe such rules and regulations as he may deem appropriate to carry out the provisions of this Act. Such regulations may include, without limitation, provisions for (a) the prevention of waste, (b) development and conservation of geothermal and other natural resources, (c) the protection of the public interest, (d) assignment, segregation, extension of terms, relinquishment of leases, development contracts, unitization, pooling, and drilling agreements,

(3) compensatory royalty agreements, suspension of operations or production, and suspension or reduction of rentals or royalties, (f) the filing of surety bonds to assure compliance with the terms of the lease and to protect surface use and resources, (g) use of the surface by a lessee of the lands embraced in his lease, (h) the maintenance by the lessee of an active development program, and (i) protection of water quality and other environmental qualities.

Authorities Affecting Land Conveyance

Sec. 25. As to any land subject to geothermal leasing under section 3 of this Act, all laws which either

(a) provide for the disposal of land by patent or other form of conveyance or by grant or by operation of law subject to a reservation of any mineral or (b) prevent or restrict the