| Contacts: | Denise Adamic (BLM) 719-269-8553 | |||
| Mike Blakeman (BLM) 719-852-6212 |
Public Meeting on Supplement to the Draft Solar Programmatic EIS Scheduled (12-21-11)
ALAMOSA, Colo.—The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold a public meeting on the Supplement to the Draft Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Solar PEIS) on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at the Inn of the Rio Grande, 333 Santa Fe Ave., Alamosa. This is the latest in a series of meetings held in Arizona, California, Nevada and Colorado to provide an overview of the Solar PEIS, answer questions, and receive public comments.
The meeting site will be open to the public at 6 p.m. The official meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will close after all individuals who wish to speak have been heard.
More than 80,000 public comments were received on the Draft Solar PEIS, which the BLM developed with the Department of Energy and published in Dec. 2010. After analyzing those comments the BLM modified its preferred alternative to include 17 solar energy zones, totaling about 285,000 acres nationwide as potentially available for solar energy development. Colorado’s four solar energy zones are within the San Luis Valley and total 16,308 acres.
For additional information visit the BLM project Web site at http://solareis.anl.gov and the DOE Web site http://energy.gov/nepa
The Notice of Availability of the draft document was published in the Federal Register on Oct. 28, 2011.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. In Fiscal Year 2012, activities on public lands generated $4.6 billion in revenue, much of which was shared with the States where the activities occurred. In addition, public lands contributed more than $112 billion to the U.S. economy and helped support more than 500,000 jobs.
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