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60 Second Interview

Mike Nedd, Assistant Director, Bureau of Land ManagementMike Nedd,
Assistant Director,
Bureau of Land Management

 

Q1: You are dealing with a huge number of proposed applications for renewable energy projects, did the number surprise you and how are you dealing with the volume of applications?

Although BLM began to plan for solar energy development in 2004, recent state and Federal initiatives and incentives have created a much larger-than-anticipated demand for solar energy development sites on BLM lands.  We have responded by partnering with the Department of Energy on the Solar PEIS, by working through the Federal budget cycle to fund Renewable Energy Coordination Offices and renewable energy related positions, and by developing a coordinated, focused effort to move projects through the environmental review and permitting process more quickly but without taking shortcuts.

Q2: How is the environmental assessment of the 24 Solar Energy Study Areas proceeding?

We received approximately 300 comments on our Solar Energy Study Areas from a wide variety of individuals and organizations. Our contractor for the Solar PEIS, Argonne National Laboratory, has completed site visits to and collected available information for each of the 24 study areas.  All of the comments, as well as panoramic pictures of each study area, are now posted on the Solar PEIS web site: http://solareis.anl.gov.  In close coordination with the DOE and other cooperating agencies, we are currently working on the analysis and other related actions associated the environment, anticipated impacts, socio-economic conditions, and potential mitigation strategies for each of the study areas.

Q3: How are pending applications being processed before the Study Areas are complete?

BLM is continuing to process existing solar applications with an emphasis on 14 Fast Track solar energy projects which have the potential to be permitted by December 2010.  The total projected combined capacity for these projects is over 5,000 MWs.  Each of these projects is proceeding with its own site-specific EIS.  Permit processing for eight of the nine Fast Track projects located in California will be a joint effort with the California Energy Commission.  To date, BLM has published a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS for 13 of these projects; and the draft EIS for the Ivanpah BrightSource power tower proposal was released for public comment on November 10, 2009.

Q4: What is the role of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
(PEIS) and how could these affect applications in process?

In the future, the NEPA analysis for solar energy development projects will be able to tier to the analysis in the Solar PEIS.  As a result, those projects are anticipated to need less individual analysis.  Additionally, the Solar PEIS will allow BLM to amend applicable land use plans to clearly identify areas that are unsuitable for solar energy development and areas where solar energy development can occur.  BLM will also use the Solar PEIS to identify and adopt standard mitigation requirements for its solar energy program.  All of these efforts are expected to streamline and standardize BLM’s consideration of solar energy applications and provide a more efficient, cost-effective process for developers.  Solar energy development applications which are pending at the time the Record of Decision is issued for the Solar PEIS may be subject to the requirements of that decision.

Q5: We understand that projects within Solar Energy Zones may receive priority processing.

If our analysis of the Solar Energy Study Areas reveals that these areas are well suited to solar energy development, the BLM could designate some or all of the study areas as Solar Energy Zones.  The management prescriptions for such zones have not yet been developed; however, most of the environmental work and other necessary clearances will have already been completed through the Solar PEIS.  Our intention is to give priority to projects within the zones, and we fully anticipate that we will be able to process those projects much more quickly than projects in areas that have not had the benefit of previous environmental analysis and designation as areas appropriate for solar energy development.