Understanding & Planning for Renewable Energy Development Through Programmatic NEPA Analysis: A BLM Case Study on Solar Energy
Year: 2011
Type: other
Abstract: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency within the Department of the Interior (DOI), is responsible for carrying out a variety of programs for the management and conservation of resources on approximately 245 million acres of public lands, as well as 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate. In recent years, the BLM has received over 120 applications for right-of-way authorizations to construct utility-scale solar energy development on public lands (with a total estimated capacity of approximately 74,000 MW of electrical generation). Solar energy development is a land use that is not fully considered by the BLM’s existing land use plans or fully understood by BLM staff that need to analyze the environmental impacts of such activities through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. In response to this emerging pressure for solar energy development, the BLM has partnered with the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a programmatic environmental impact statement that addresses solar energy development in six southwestern states (Solar PEIS).
Source: DukeSpace (Duke University)
Author: Shannon C. Stewart
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W30091102