Letters-Continued Ford, Ford B., assistant to the administrator, the Resources Agency Fuller, James M., land department, Geothermal Resources Interna- tional, Inc., to Hon. William L. Shafer, dated June 23, 1967 (plus Hughes, Phillip S., Deputy Director, Bureau of the Budget, to Hon. Wayne N. Aspinall, dated June 9, 1967___. Johnson, Hon. Harold T., Member of Congress, to Hon. Ed Edmond- son, dated July 12, 1967 (plus Resolution No. 27 of the California Laughlin, Robert B., executive vice president, Rocky Mountain Oil Otte, Carel, vice president, Earth Energy, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., to Hon. Ed Edmondson, dated June 15, 1967 (telegram). Otte, Carel, vice president, Earth Energy, Inc., to Hon. Ed Edmond- Taylor, T. W, Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of Indian Affairs, to Hon. Wayne N. Aspinall, dated, June 22, 1967 (plus three geo- Woodward, Albert Y., vice president, Signal Oil & Gas Co., to Hon. Ed Edmondson, dated June 20, 1967 (plus legal descriptions of areas Aspinall, Hon. Wayne N., inserts in chronological order for record, relating to the February 7 withdrawal of geothermal steam_ _ _ Notice of proposed withdrawal and reservation of lands, all public land States dated February 3, 1967- Aspinall, Hon. Wayne N., to Hon. Stewart L. Udall, dated March Aspinall, Hon. Wayne N., to Boyd L. Rasmussen, Director, Bureau of Land Management, dated March 16, 1967 (letter) _ _ Crow, John O., Acting Director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, to Hon. Wayne N. Aspinall, dated Revised notice of proposed withdrawal and reservation of lands, all public land States, dated March 21, 1967- Map of prospective and known geothermal resource areas. Aspinall, Hon. Wayne N., to Hon. Stewart L. Udall, dated April Aspinall, Hon. Wayne N., to John O. Crow, Acting Director, Bureau of Land Management, dated April 3, 1967 (letter). Aspinall, Hon. Wayne N., to Boyd L. Rasmussen, Director, Bureau of Land Management, dated April 24, 1967 (letter) - Anderson, Hon. Harry R., Assistant Secretary of the Interior, to Hon. Wayne N. Aspinall, dated May 5, 1967 (letter) – – Udall, Hon. Stewart L., to Hon. Wayne N. Aspinall, dated May Johnson, Hon. Harold T., resolutions and letters for the record Calaveras County Board of Supervisors, Resolution No. 67-105, Cook, Barbara L., clerk to the board, El Dorado County Board of Supervisors, Placerville, Calif., to Hon. Harold T. Johnson, Johnson, Hon. Harold T., etc.—Continued Inyo County Board of Supervisors, Resolution No. 67-23, ap- Lazague, John B., chairman, Modoc County Board of Super- visors, to Hon. Harold T. Johnson, dated April 21, 1967 McKeown, Jeanette, principal clerk, county of Mono, board of Plumas County Taxpayers Association, resolution adopted Smith, Gordon I., district attorney and general counsel, Downie- ville, Calif., to Hon. Harold T. Johnson, dated May 4, 1967- Sierra County, Calif., Board of Supervisors, Resolution No. 67-10, Smith, Gordon I., district attorney_and_county counsel, Sierra 66 66 67 69 American Gold Association, Resolution No. 5, adopted April 69 Memorandum of disapproval on S. 1674, office of the White House 29 DISPOSITION OF GEOTHERMAL STEAM-1967 MONDAY, JUNE 12, 1967 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MINES AND MINING OF THE Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Ed Edmondson (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. EDMONDSON. The Subcommittee on Mines and Mining will come to order. We have a matter before us here this morning dealing with geothermal steam. If there is no objection we will make a part of the record at this point H.R. 3577 by Mr. Baring, which is pretty typical of the legislation on this subject, passed by the last Congress, and vetoed by the President, and H.R. 9583, introduced by the chairman of the subcommittee by request. Is there objection to it? Hearing no objection, these will be made a part of the record at this point. (The bills referred to follow :) [H.R. 3577, 90th Cong., first sess.] A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make disposition of geothermal steam and associated geothermal resources, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Geothermal Steam Act of 1966". 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 all fluid products of geothermal processes, embracing steam, naturally heated water and brines, and the heat or other energy associated with them and, in addition, 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. SEC. 3. Subject to the provisions of section 14 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior may issues leases for the development and utilization of geothermal 1 steam and associated geothermal resources (1) in lands administered by him, whether those lands are unreserved, withdrawn, or acquired, and (2) in any national forest or other lands administered by the Department of Agriculture through the Forest Service, whether those lands are withdrawn or acquired. 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 to be 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. 5. Geothermal leases shall provide for (a) a royalty of not less than 10 per centum of the amount or value of steam, or any other form if heat or energy derived from production under the lease and sold or utilized by the lessee; (b) a royalty of not less than 5 per centum of the value of any byproduct derived from production under the lease and sold or utilized or reasonably susceptible of sale or utilization by the lessee, except that as to any byproduct which is a mineral named in section 1 of the Mineral Leasing Act of February 25, 1920, as amended (30 U.S.C. 181), the minimum rate of royalty for such mineral shall be the same as that provided in that Act and the maximum rate of royalty for such mineral shall not exceed the maximum royalty applicable under that Act; (c) payment in advance of an annual rental of not less than $1 per acre or fraction thereof for each year of the lease. If there is no well on the leased lands capable of producing geothermal resources in commercial quantities, the failure to pay rental on or before the anniversary date shall terminate the lease by operation of law: Provided, however, That whenever the Secretary discovers that the rental payment due under a lease is paid timely but the amount of the payment is deficient because of an error or other reason and the deficiency is nominal, as determined by the Secretary pursuant to regulations prescribed by him, he shall notify the lessee of the deficiency and such lease shall not automatically terminate unless the lessee fails to pay the deficiency within the period prescribed in the notice: Provided further, That, where any lease has been terminated automatically by operation of law under this section for failure to pay rental timely and it is shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that the failure to pay timely the lease rental was justifiable or not due to a lack of reasonable diligence, he in his judgment may reinstate the lease if— (1) petition for reinstatement, together with the required rental for such lease, is filed with the Secretary of the Interior; and (2) no valid lease has been issued affecting any of the lands in the terminated lease prior to the filing of the petition for reinstatement; and (d) a minimum royalty of $2 per acre or fraction thereof in lieu of rental payable at the expiration of each lease year for each producing lease, commencing with the lease year beginning on or after the commencement of production in commercial quantities. For the purpose of determining royalties hereunder the value of any geothermal steam and byproduct used by the lessee and not sold and reasonably susceptible of sale shall be determined by the Secretary, who shall take into consideration the cost of exploration and production and the economic value of the resource in terms of its ultimate utilization. SEC. 6. (a) Geothermal leases shall be for a primary term of fifteen years and for so long thereafter as geothermal steam is produced or utilized in commercial quantities. (b) Any lease for land on which, or for whic hunder an approved cooperative or unit plan of development or operation, actual drilling operations were commenced prior to the end of its primary term and are being diligently prosecuted at that time shall be extended for five years and so long thereafter as geothermal steam is produced or utilized in commercial quantities. (c) Leases which have extended by reason of production and have been determined by the Secretary to be incapable of further commercial production and utilization of geothermal steam may be further extended for a period of not more than five years from the date of such determination but only for so long as one or more valuable byproducts are produced in commercial quantities. If such byproducts are leasable under the Mineral Leasing Act of February 25, 1920, as amended (30 U.S.C. 181, et seq.), or under the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired |