CS for Senate Bill No. 161(RES) - Geothermal Resources

• Removes exemption for surface owner preference rights in geothermal prospecting permits and leases, allowing the commissioner to issue permits and leases without requiring surface owner consent or preferential treatment.

• Changes prospecting licenses from 2-year to 5-year terms and allows conversion to leases based on completion of agreed-upon work commitments rather than requiring a commercial discovery showing.

• Increases the acreage limitation for geothermal leases from 51,200 acres to 100,000 acres per person, excluding leases in commercial production from the limitation.

• Exempts domestic, noncommercial, or small-scale industrial uses of geothermal resources from licensing and lease requirements under both the Department of Natural Resources and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

• Revises the definition of "geothermal resources" and "geothermal fluid" to remove temperature thresholds (120 degrees Celsius) and clarify that these terms exclude oil, hydrocarbon gases, and other hydrocarbon substances.

• Becomes effective July 1, 2020, and applies to all licenses or leases for geothermal resources entered into on or after that date.