(1) Any eligible person may apply for a geothermal permit for land other than--
(a) land in a restricted area; or
(b) excluded land; or
(c) land in an existing geothermal tenure's area; or
(d) land that has been in a geothermal tenure's area within 2 months before the making of the application.
(2) Also, a geothermal permit application (the relevant application) may be made for land the subject of an existing application only if--
(a) the land is in a released area and the relevant application is made during the application period for the area; or
(b) the existing application was made on the same day as the relevant application.
(3) Despite subsection (1), a geothermal permit application can not be made for geothermal exploration--
(a) for exempt heat pump production; or
(b) to evaluate the feasibility of exempt heat pump production.
(4) In this section--
existing application means another geothermal permit application made but not decided.