As used in the Geothermal Resources Act:

A. "geothermal resources" means the natural heat of the earth in excess of two hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit, or the energy in whatever form below the surface of the earth present in, resulting from, created by or which may be extracted from this natural heat in excess of two hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit, and all minerals in solution or other products obtained from naturally heated fluids, brines, associated gases and steam in whatever form found below the surface of the earth, but excluding oil, hydrocarbon gas and other hydrocarbon substances and excluding the heating and cooling capacity of the earth not resulting from the natural heat of the earth in excess of two hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit, as may be used for the heating and cooling of buildings through an on-site geoexchange heat pump or similar on-site system;

B. "commissioner" means the commissioner of public lands;

C. "state lands" includes all land owned by the state, all land owned by school districts, beds of navigable rivers and lakes, submerged lands and lands in which mineral rights have been reserved to the state;

D. "lease" means a lease for the extraction and removal of geothermal resources from state lands; and

E. "well" means any well for the discovery of geothermal resources or any well on lands producing geothermal resources or reasonably presumed to contain geothermal resources.

History: 1953 Comp., § 7-15-2, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 158, § 2; 2013, ch. 125, § 1.

The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, changed the definition of "geothermal resources" to establish a minimum threshold of heat; and in Subsection A, after "natural heat of the earth" added "in excess of two hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit", after "extracted from this natural heat", added "in excess of two hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit", and after "and other hydrocarbon substances", added the remainder of the sentence.

Law reviews. — For comment on geothermal energy and water law, see 19 Nat. Resources J. 445 (1979).