Upon receiving payment for processing costs, the BLM begins processing the ROW application. CLICK on the thumbnail below to view and print a flowchart summarizing application processing.

Customer service standards set in regulations establish the timeframe for the BLM to complete processing.

Simple proposals or applications to use lands where no sensitive resources are found can be processed in 60 days or less.  More complex applications often require detailed project-specific analysis of impacts to environmental and/or cultural resources and development of measures for avoiding or mitigating those impacts. 

If an environmental impact statement (EIS) is needed, processing time will be framed by the BLM's regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  These include requirements for public involvement and review.

> for Applicants | Processing - BLM ROW homepage
> BLM National Environmental Policy Act information page
> BLM NEPA Cooperating Agencies homepage

Currently, BLM Idaho is involved in processing several applications 
for a number of major, energy-related ROWs.  BLM offices in other States have the lead as indicated:

In processing the ROW application, the realty specialist first ensures that the proposed use of the ROW conforms with the BLM land use plan for the area and checks land use records to verify that the proposed project wouldn't conflict with existing rights on the lands requested in the application.

The specialist inventories any cultural resources, threatened or endangered species, hazardous materials, or other resources of concern that may be present in the area of the proposed ROW, and completes an environmental document - an environmental assessment (EA), an environmental impact statement (EIS), a determination of NEPA adequacy (DNA), or in specified situations, a categorical exclusion (CE, or CX). 

The BLM deciding official uses the environmental documentation to make a fully informed decision about whether to grant the ROW.

The specialist calculates the rental fee for the ROW, based on fair market value information for lands in the area.

The specialist also determines what monitoring will be necessary if the ROW is granted and categorizes the cost of monitoring construction, operation, maintenance, and eventual termination of the project to establish a monitoring fee.  

Monitoring is an important condition of a grant which the applicant must accept before the grant can be made.  The applicant must pay all monitoring fees before the BLM can issue the ROW grant.

  •  Gateway West transmission line - BLM Wyoming
  •  Mountain States Transmission Intertie (MSTI) - BLM Montana
  •  Southwest Intertie Project (SWIP) - BLM Nevada

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Case Examples

APPLICANT #1: An individual seeking to renew an expiring ROW grant

Elapsed (calendar) time:  5 days
Because the applicant plans no additional surface disturbance or construction, no additional environmental impact analysis is necessary.

APPLICANT #2: A local telecomm provider applying for a communications site ROW

Elapsed (calendar) time:  8 months
Not all active processing time – the applicant is charged only for Federal work hours devoted to actual processing, which here include field surveys that can only be done at certain times of year.

    Complex applications can take a year or more to process.