§ 1101. — Congressional findings.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 30USC1101]
TITLE 30--MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 24--GEOTHERMAL ENERGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRATION
Sec. 1101. Congressional findings
The Congress hereby finds that--
(1) the Nation is currently suffering a critical shortage of
environmentally acceptable forms of energy;
(2) the inadequate organizational structures and levels of
funding for energy research have limited the Nation's current and
future options for meeting energy needs;
(3) electric energy is a clean and convenient form of energy at
the location of its use and is the only practicable form of energy
in some modern applications, but the demand for electric energy in
every region of the United States is taxing all of the alternative
energy sources presently available and is projected to increase;
some of the sources available for electric power generation are
already in short supply, and the development and use of other
sources presently involve undesirable environmental impacts;
(4) the Nation's critical energy problems can be solved only if
a national commitment is made to dedicate the necessary financial
resources, and enlist the cooperation of the private and public
sectors, in developing geothermal resources and other
nonconventional sources of energy;
(5) the conventional geothermal resources which are presently
being used have limited total potential; but geothermal resources
which are different from those presently being used, and which have
extremely large energy content, are known to exist;
(6) some geothermal resources contain energy in forms other than
heat; examples are methane and extremely high pressures available
upon release as kinetic energy;
(7) some geothermal resources contain valuable byproducts such
as potable water and mineral compounds which should be processed and
recovered as national resources;
(8) technologies are not presently available for the development
of most of these geothermal resources, but technologies for the
generation of electric energy from geothermal resources are
potentially economical and environmentally desirable, and the
development of geothermal resources offers possibilities of process
energy and other nonelectric applications;
(9) much of the known geothermal resources exist on the public
lands;
(10) Federal financial assistance is necessary to encourage the
extensive exploration, research, and development in geothermal
resources which will bring these technologies to the point of
commercial application;
(11) the advancement of technology with the cooperation of
private industry for the production of useful forms of energy from
geothermal resources is important with respect to the Federal
responsibility for the general welfare, to facilitate commerce, to
encourage productive harmony between man and his environment, and to
protect the public interest; and
(12) the Federal Government should encourage and assist private
industry through Federal assistance for the development and
demonstration of practicable means to produce useful energy from
geothermal resources with environmentally acceptable processes.
(Pub. L. 93-410, Sec. 2, Sept. 3, 1974, 88 Stat. 1079.)
Short Title
Section 1 of Pub. L. 93-410 provided that: ``This Act [enacting this
chapter] may be cited as the `Geothermal Energy Research, Development,
and Demonstration Act of 1974'.''
