The Restoration Design Energy Project, funded under the Department of Interior’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, will support the President’s and the Secretary of Interior’s goals to build America’s new energy future and to protect and restore treasured landscapes. The objective of this project is to identify disturbed or previously developed sites in Arizona that, after remediation or site preparation, will be available for renewable energy development.
Since the project was initiated in early July, more than 50 groups have been contacted, including state and other federal agencies, county governments, the solar and wind energy industry, interest groups and academia. The project has broad support from all those contacted.
To date, over 45 potential sites have been submitted for consideration. These sites are located in 9 Arizona counties and 1 county in California. They include former landfills, abandoned mine sites, gravel pits, hazardous material sites, abandoned airfields, trash dumps and isolated parcels of federal lands in the urban area. Two state agencies, 2 municipalities, a coalition of conservation groups and citizens have submitted potential sites. Sites will continue to be considered for inclusion in the analysis through the formal scoping period for the Environmental Impact Statement which will take place this fall. The nomination form can be found on the BLM website.
The BLM will begin formal scoping for the Environmental Impact Statement in the late fall. For more information, please contact Teri Raml at 602-417-9388, at the BLM Arizona State Office, One North Central Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ 85004-4427, or e-mail teri_raml@blm.gov.
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