# H.R. 5587 (119th): Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act or the HEATS Act

Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act or the HEATS Act This bill exempts certain geothermal activities on state and private lands (except Indian lands) from drilling permit requirements as well as environmental and historic preservation review requirements. First, the bill prohibits the Department of the Interior from requiring an operator to obtain a drilling permit under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 for any geothermal exploration and production activity conducted on a nonfederal surface estate (i.e., the part of the estate that is above ground) if (1) the United States holds an ownership interest of less than 50% of the subsurface geothermal estate to be accessed by the proposed action, and (2) the operator submits to Interior a state permit to conduct the geothermal exploration and production activity on the nonfederal surface estate. Next, the bill states that such geothermal exploration and production activity is not considered a major federal action under National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Thus, such activity does not trigger NEPA's environmental review requirements. In addition, the bill exempts such activity from the consultation requirements under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. It also exempts the activity from review under the National Historic Preservation Act unless the state in which the activity occurs does not have a state law that addresses the preservation of historic properties.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: energy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: environmental_regulation. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: geothermal. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: natural_resources. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: permitting. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: unclear. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 137: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill pursues a real good in facilitating domestic energy development on private and state land and reducing permitting burdens, but it also reduces federal environmental, endangered species, and historic review. These are prudential tradeoffs about regulatory design, not direct advancement of moral evil or direct restraint of a named evil, so mixed fits better than either pole.
Theological note: Relevant to stewardship of creation and the proper use of God-given resources through lawful labor, which Scripture affirms (Genesis 1:28; 2:15). It also bears on care for endangered creatures and on honoring the historic built environment, goods weighed through prudential judgment about how much federal review is warranted. This is an issue-relevance note, not a final candidate judgment.

## Recorded votes

Roll 137: On Passage. Yea 231 · Nay 186 · Other 12.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-5587-119/