The state must hold heat-from-earth lease sales each year.

What it does

This bill changes rules for heat-from-earth leases on state land. The state must hold lease sales each year instead of when it picks. The state must offer at least 75% of named land for lease. It must write down why if it won't lease the rest. The Interior office must say yes or no on drill permits in 30 days. If people send missing facts, the office has 10 more days.

Who it affects

Heat-from-earth companies and drill workers will get faster yes-or-no answers on leases and permits. The Interior office must move faster on nature review. People near heat-from-earth sites may have less time to speak up.

One thing to notice

The bill makes the state lease at least 75% of named land each year. This cuts the state's power to stop leases for nature reasons. The 30-day deadline is shorter than the normal 45-day nature review time.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

4 cosponsors: 3 Republicans, 1 Democrats.

• Feb 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
• Dec 16, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
• Apr 21, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Apr 21, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by Unanimous Consent”
• Jun 2, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3758-3759)”
• Jun 2, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

8 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 12 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $22,430,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 21 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 88% of bills with any report.

Russ Fulcher, who sponsored the bill, received $338,570 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $16,950,000 in 1 report
• Fervo Energy Company — $2,220,000 in 4 reports
• Chevron U.S.A. Inc. — $1,670,000 in 1 report
• Americans for Prosperity — $660,000 in 1 report
• Corporate Energy Buyers Association — $380,000 in 2 reports

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• heat-from-earth — Hot energy from deep in the ground, used to make power.
• lease — A deal that lets a company use land for a set time for cash.
• Interior — The federal office that runs state lands and nature stuff.
• named land — Bits of ground that someone asked the state to put up for lease.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.