Director Clarke Announces New Wind Energy Policy

The Bureau of Land Management today issued guidelines that will help the agency respond to a growing interest in the commercial development of wind energy projects on the nation's public lands. The guidelines, set forth in a Wind Energy Development Policy issued by the BLM, cover the processing of right-of-way applications for wind energy site testing and monitoring facilities, as well as applications for commercial wind energy development projects on BLM-managed public lands.

"The BLM fully supports the President's National Energy Policy, which is aimed at developing domestic energy to reduce America's dependence on foreign sources of energy," said BLM Director Kathleen Clarke. "Along with traditional sources of energy produced from the public lands – including coal, natural gas and oil – renewable resources such as wind energy can play a important role in meeting American's energy needs."

The BLM Wind Energy Policy provides consistent guidance on the timely processing of wind energy right-of-way applications and addresses the following issues:

• land use plan requirements for wind energy development;
• authorization of wind energy activities on public land as Federal Land Policy and Management Act rights-of-way;
• establishment of rental fees for site testing and monitoring authorizations and minimum rental fees for commercial development;
• efficient processing and tracking of right-of-way applications;
• due diligence requirements; and
• requirements for environmental review of wind energy activities.

"Continued growth in wind energy development will be extremely important in delivering larger supplies of clean domestic power for America's growing economy," said Pete Culp, Special Assistant to the Director for Energy Policy.

The BLM currently administers 25 wind energy right-of-way authorizations on public lands in California and Wyoming. The sites cover approximately 5,000 acres and generate about 500 megawatts of electrical power per year. The interest in wind energy development is increasing, and the BLM continues to receives new project proposals on public land. The BLM has recently received some 30 new applications for projects in Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, California, Wyoming and Washington.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land—261 million surface acres—than any other Federal agency. Most of the country's BLM-managed public land is located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, which has a budget of $1.8 billion and a workforce of 10,000 employees, 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. The BLM accomplishes this by managing for such resources as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, and energy and mineral development that helps meet the nation's energy needs, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on the public lands.

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