(a) Deposit of geothermal resources leases

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts received by the United States in the first 5 fiscal years beginning after August 8, 2005, as rentals, royalties, and other payments required under leases under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 [30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.], excluding funds required to be paid to State and county governments, shall be deposited into a separate account in the Treasury.

(b) Use of deposits

Terms Used In 42 USC 15873

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7

Amounts deposited under subsection (a) shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior for expenditure, without further appropriation and without fiscal year limitation, to implement the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 [30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.] and this Act.

(c) Transfer of funds

For the purposes of coordination and processing of geothermal leases and geothermal use authorizations on Federal land the Secretary of the Interior may authorize the expenditure or transfer of such funds as are necessary to the Forest Service.