A bipartisan group of western senators wants to streamline the permitting process and boost lease sales for geothermal energy projects on federal lands.
Legislation obtained by Bloomberg Government and set to be introduced Thursday would expand an existing “categorical exclusion” and apply it to geothermal extraction. The goal is to reduce the time it takes to obtain environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Categorical exclusions refer to actions a federal agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality have determined would not significantly impact the environment, thus expediting the review process. The 2005 Energy Policy Act created ...