What’s In the Big Bill for Us? Renewables Revenue and Counties

This is really above my pay grade, but it seems like the Big Bill changes the way developers are charged for solar and wind installations on federal land, both FS and BLM.  I don’t know what they were before, so I don’t know how significant the changes are.  I posted the section below, but it’s both long and cryptic. I’ve been looking for someone knowledgeable to weigh in, but so far all I got was AI based on earlier versions of the bill. IF someone finds an explanation of the current language, please link in the comments.

Two things that are clear.. BLM discretion to lower fees has been removed, and counties get to keep part of the receipts.

Someone can tell us how different the rent calculations are than previous.

Here’s the section.. be glad that you don’t have to calculate these formulas! It appears that of all the various permits and rents, the Bill says that 25% goes to the State and 25% to the Counties, with other 50% going to the Treasury. Hopefully, our BLM friends can tell us if this is like other kinds of rents and permits. I did find this fairly complex chart of what happens to oil and gas revenues in a recently updated Congressional Research Service report.

Anyway, below is the text.

(9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’
4 means—
5 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re6
spect to land controlled or administered by the
7 Secretary of the Interior; and
8 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re9
spect to National Forest System land.
10 (b) ACREAGE RENT FOR WIND AND SOLAR RIGHTS11
OF-WAY.—
12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to section 504(g) of
13 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of  1976 (43 U.S.C. 1764(g)), the Secretary shall, subject
15 to paragraph (3) and not later than January 1 of
16 each calendar year, collect from the holder of a right17
of-way for a renewable energy project an acreage rent
18 in an amount determined by the equation described
19 in paragraph (2).
20 (2) CALCULATION OF ACREAGE RENT RATE.—

(A) EQUATION.—The amount of an acreage
22 rent collected under paragraph (1) shall be deter23
mined using the following equation: Acreage rent
24 = A × B × ((1 + C)D)).

(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of the
2 equation described in subparagraph (A):
3 (i) The letter ‘‘A’’ means the Per-Acre
4 Rate.
5 (ii) The letter ‘‘B’’ means the Encum6
brance Factor.
7 (iii) The letter ‘‘C’’ means the Annual
8 Adjustment Factor.
9 (iv) The letter ‘‘D’’ means the year in
10 the term of the right-of-way.
11 (3) PAYMENT UNTIL PRODUCTION.—The holder of
12 a right-of-way for a renewable energy project shall
13 pay an acreage rent collected under paragraph (1)
14 until the date on which energy generation begins.
15 (c) CAPACITY FEES.—
16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, subject to
17 paragraph (3), annually collect a capacity fee from
18 the holder of a right-of-way for a renewable energy
19 project based on the amount described in paragraph
20 (2).
21 (2) CALCULATION OF CAPACITY FEE.—The
22 amount of a capacity fee collected under paragraph
23 (1) shall be equal to the greater of—
24 (A) an amount equal to the acreage rent de25
scribed in subsection (b); and
195
† HR 1 EAS
1 (B) 3.9 percent of the gross proceeds from
2 the sale of electricity produced by the renewable
3 energy project.
4 (3) MULTIPLE-USE REDUCTION FACTOR.—
5 (A) APPLICATION.—The holder of a right-of6
way for a wind energy generation project may
7 request that the Secretary apply a multiple-use
8 reduction factor of 10-percent to the amount of
9 a capacity fee determined under paragraph (2)
10 by submitting to the Secretary an application at
11 such time, in such manner, and containing such
12 information as the Secretary may require.
13 (B) APPROVAL.—The Secretary may ap14
prove an application submitted under subpara15
graph (A) only if not less than 25 percent of the
16 land within the area of the right-of-way is au17
thorized for use, occupancy, or development with
18 respect to an activity other than the generation
19 of wind energy for the entirety of the year in
20 which the capacity fee is collected.
21 (C) LATE DETERMINATION.—
22 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary ap23
proves an application under subparagraph
24 (B) for a wind energy generation project
25 after the date on which the holder of the
196
† HR 1 EAS
1 right-of-way for the project begins paying a
2 capacity fee, the Secretary shall apply the
3 multiple-use reduction factor described in
4 subparagraph (A) to the capacity fee for the
5 first year beginning after the date of ap6
proval and each year thereafter for the pe7
riod during which the right-of-way remains
8 in effect.
9 (ii) REFUND.—The Secretary may not
10 refund the holder of a right-of-way for the
11 difference in the amount of a capacity fee
12 paid in a previous year.
13 (d) LATE PAYMENT FEE; TERMINATION.—
14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may charge the
15 holder of a right-of-way for a renewable energy
16 project a late payment fee if the Secretary does not
17 receive payment for the acreage rent under subsection
18 (b) or the capacity fee under subsection (c) by the
19 date that is 15 days after the date on which the pay20
ment was due.
21 (2) TERMINATION OF RIGHT-OF-WAY.—The Sec22
retary may terminate a right-of-way for a renewable
23 energy project if the Secretary does not receive pay24
ment for the acreage rent under subsection (b) or the
1 capacity fee under subsection (c) by the date that is
2 90 days after the date on which the payment was due.
3 SEC. 50303. RENEWABLE ENERGY REVENUE SHARING.
4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
5 (1) COUNTY.—The term ‘‘county’’ includes a
6 parish, township, borough, and any other similar,
7 independent unit of local government.
8 (2) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’
9 means land that is—
10 (A) public land administered by the Sec11
retary; and
12 (B) not excluded from the development

solar or wind energy under—
14 (i) a land use plan; or
15 (ii) other Federal law.
16 (3) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—
17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘National For18
est System’’ means land of the National Forest
19 System (as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest
20 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning
21 Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))) administered
22 by the Secretary of Agriculture.
23 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘National For24
est System’’ does not include any forest reserve
25 not created from the public domain.
198
† HR 1 EAS
1 (4) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’
2 means—
3 (A) public lands (as defined in section 103
4 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
5 of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); and
6 (B) National Forest System land.
7 (5) RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT.—The term
8 ‘‘renewable energy project’’ means a system described
9 in section 2801.9(a)(4) of title 43, Code of Federal
10 Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of
11 this Act), located on covered land that uses wind or
12 solar energy to generate energy.
13 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’
14 means—
15 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re16
spect to land controlled or administered by the
17 Secretary of the Interior; and
18 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re19
spect to National Forest System land.
20 (b) DISPOSITION OF REVENUE.—
21 (1) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.—Beginning on
22 January 1, 2026, the amounts collected from a renew23
able energy project as bonus bids, rentals, fees, or
24 other payments under a right-of-way, permit, lease,
25 or other authorization shall—
1 (A) be deposited in the general fund of the
2 Treasury; and
3 (B) without further appropriation or fiscal
4 year limitation, be allocated as follows:
5 (i) 25 percent shall be paid from
6 amounts in the general fund of the Treasury
7 to the State within the boundaries of which
8 the revenue is derived.
9 (ii) 25 percent shall be paid from
10 amounts in the general fund of the Treasury
11 to each county in a State within the bound12
aries of which the revenue is derived, to be
13 allocated among each applicable county
14 based on the percentage of county land from
15 which the revenue is derived.
16 (2) PAYMENTS TO STATES AND COUNTIES.—
17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts paid to States
18 and counties under paragraph (1) shall be used
19 in accordance with the requirements of section
20 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191).
21 (B) PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF TAXES.—A pay22
ment to a county under paragraph (1) shall be
23 in addition to a payment in lieu of taxes re24
ceived by the county under chapter 69 of title 31,
25 United States Code.
1 (C) TIMING.—The amounts required to be
2 paid under paragraph (1)(B) for an applicable
3 fiscal year shall be made available in the fiscal
4 year that immediately follows the fiscal year for
5 which the amounts were collected.