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Ranking member Huffman, Rep. Randall press for agency-led CE development and tribal consultation as committee advances geothermal bills
Summary
During the markup, Ranking Member Huffman argued the bills create statutory NEPA waivers and urged DOI to develop categorical exclusions; Representative Randall sought explicit tribal consultation requirements. Both amendments failed and the bills were reported to the House.
Ranking Member Huffman repeatedly warned that the bills before the committee would create statutory NEPA waivers for geothermal exploration that could undercut environmental review and agency discretion. "This bill would simply strike the NEPA waiver in this legislation and replace it with what the bill should do," Huffman said, urging that the Department of the Interior develop categorical exclusions instead.
Huffman argued Congress is not well suited to legislate technical thresholds like acreage limits and well diameters and cited several recent BLM categorical-exclusion actions that, in his view, show the agency can act more nimbly if directed and resourced. He also flagged risks around underground injection control permits and bonding for subsurface impacts, saying a lack of federal oversight could leave states and taxpayers exposed in the event of subsidence or seismic events.
Representative Randall offered an amendment to require meaningful tribal consultation before decisions are made that would affect lands and resources covered by NEPA, NHPA, and the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. "The federal government has a unique government-to-government relationship with tribal nations," Randall said, and the amendment sought to ensure that tribal consultation is not merely a box-checking exercise. She and Representative Hoffman argued the change was a necessary safeguard; the chair and other majority members said the bill excludes tribal lands and that the amendment would preserve duplicative requirements.
Both amendments were rejected in committee procedure: Huffman's amendment failed in a recorded vote (16 ayes, 21 nays) and Randall's amendment failed by voice vote with a recorded vote requested and later tallied against it. Representative Hernandez briefly proposed a mapping amendment focused on Puerto Rico's geothermal potential but withdrew the amendment after the chair agreed to discuss mapping and coordination with relevant agencies.
The markup record shows competing views about how best to speed geothermal development: majority members emphasized statutory streamlining to remove duplicative reviews, while minority members emphasized agency-driven technical decisions, tribal consultation, and preservation of statutory safeguards. The committee ultimately ordered the bills reported to the House.
