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| A Solar Energy Development Fact Sheet | |||
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Restoration Design Energy Project: The Restoration Design Energy Project, funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, supports the goals of building America’s energy resources and protecting and restoring treasured landscapes. The purpose of this initiative is to evaluate and identify disturbed, contaminated, and isolated lands in Arizona for their renewable energy potential. The project’s draft environmental impact statement is anticipated to be completed in early 2012. The EIS will evaluate different types of disturbed lands, including landfills, mines, and brownfields. The EIS will help determine the practicality of using such sites for renewable energy projects. Factors being studied include remediation or restoration of the disturbed lands and the potential for benefit to the community. BLM Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement: An ongoing federally funded environmental evaluation of potential solar energy development on public lands in six Western states includes an in-depth analysis of the potential effects of utility-scale solar energy development on public lands. The study is known as the Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, or PEIS. It encompasses 24 solar energy study areas, including three in Arizona. The Bureau of Land Management is continuing to process active solar applications during preparation of the PEIS. The BLM is also continuing to accept new applications both within and outside of the Solar Energy Study Areas. However, these applications will be subject to any decisions made as a result of the Solar PEIS. This evaluation of utility-scale energy development on public land is a collaborative effort with the Department of Energy. It is to allow the BLM to take a close look at each study area to determine where it makes sense to develop large-scale solar projects. Companies proposing solar energy projects in designated areas will be able to “tier” to this study, using it as part of their environmental impact studies for site-specific projects, which are required by the National Environmental Policy Act. The three solar energy study areas in Arizona encompass 16,492 acres. Only lands with suitable slope, proximity to roads and transmission lines or designated corridors, and containing at least 2,000 acres of BLM-administered public lands were considered for solar energy study areas. Excluded were sensitive lands, wilderness and other high-conservation-value lands, and lands with conflicting uses. The BLM has segregated the study areas from new mining claims and other actions initiated by third parties under public land laws. This two-year segregation will give BLM time to complete its environmental review and make a determination on solar energy zones. It does not affect rights established prior to the temporary segregation. The public can comment on the proposed solar energy study areas during the environmental reviews before final decisions are made. Funding for the PEIS comes in part from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. BLM Rights-of-Way Application Process: The BLM in Arizona has received 31 solar energy applications for rights-of-way, encompassing 452,639 acres of public land. The applicants each have filed plans of development outlining the scope of the proposed solar projects. A right-of-way grant is an authorization to use a piece of public land for a specific project. Such projects include roads, pipelines, transmission lines, communication sites, and energy generation plants. A right-of-way application is first evaluated under the BLM’s Land Use Plan for the area. It is then analyzed for possible impacts to the natural and human environment. This analysis follows steps established by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Those steps require notice to the public and opportunity for the public to comment. NEPA also requires consideration of air quality, cultural resources, geology, hazardous materials, land use and access, noise, paleontology, threatened species (plants and animals), visual resources, water resources, and wildlife. After the requirements of NEPA are met, BLM then considers the right-of-way application under the terms of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.
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