renewable energy and the blm may 4, 2009 ashley conrad-saydah blm renewable energy project manager
TRANSCRIPT
Renewable Energy and the BLM
May 4, 2009
Ashley Conrad-Saydah
BLM Renewable Energy Project Manager
Objectives
Process and history Status of renewable energy applications Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Coordination and collaboration Timing
Solucar Tower, Seville, Spain; Wikipedia Commons
Right-of-Way Grants
Right-of-way (ROW): an authorization to use a specific piece of land for a particular project, i.e. roads, pipelines, energy facilities
Process: Pre-application meeting SF 299 Cost-recovery Review (environmental, cultural, etc.) Decision
Challenges with Renewable Energy ROW Applications Size, location, resources, multiple use
California Renewable Energy Summary Statistics
as of May 2009
Wind Solar
Total applications 92 66
Total acres 999,966 574,915
Approximate MW N/A 47,380
CDD applications 63 64
CDD acres 462,462 572,275
Central CA apps 5 1
Central CA acres 31,958 1,920
Northern CA apps 24 1
Northern CA acres 505,546 720
BLM Renewable Energy Applications in California
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/energy.html
Current Development
Solar Needles – Ivanpah El Centro, Barstow – Stirling
Wind Eagle Lake – SMUD
Transmission Sunrise, Vulcan, TANC etc.
Geothermal and biomass
NREL
BLM Guidance
Cultural Instructional Bulletin (IB) - 2008 Botany
IB forthcoming Survey guidelines
Wildlife Threatened and endangered species lists Survey guidelines Collaboration with USFWS, CDFG
Water and engineering Partnerships
Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)
Purpose: to facilitate utility-scale solar energy development on public lands
Goals: to identify reasonable forseeable regional and national development scenarios for solar energy; to amend up to 58 BLM land use plans in 6 states; to identify best management practices; and to adopt mitigation measures
Solar PEIS: Partners
Joint project: Department of Energy and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Contractor: Argonne National Laboratory
Multiple cooperating agencies California state agencies (CEC, CPUC, CDF&G et al) Department of Defense US Fish and Wildlife Service Arizona Department of Game and Fish Nevada Division of Wildlife Utah Public Lands Policy Coordination Office
Recently Completed PEISs
Wind Energy (2005) amended 52 BLM land use plans
Geothermal Leasing (2008) amended 114 BLM land use plans
West-Wide Energy Corridors (2009) amended 92 BLM land use plans
Solar PEIS: Zones
Move from Western States-wide plan to solar “zones”
Establishing zones Data from Renewable Energy
Transmission Initiative, federal and non-profit partners
Zone EIS Site specific EAs
Draft plan late summer 2009
More Information:
Solar PEIS: http://solareis.anl.gov/ Sign up for email notifications
BLM Solar Energy information: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/solar_energy.html
California Solar Energy information: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/energy/solar.html
Collaborations Renewable Energy
Transmission Initiative Department of Defense Desert Managers’ Group Master agreements Other local and tribal
collaborations Renewable Energy Action
Team (REAT) Response to Executive Order
Regional Coordination
Recent and Anticipated Changes
Renewable Energy Coordination Offices (RECO) Increasing capacity to coordinate processing with
applicants and state agencies Increasing capacity to plan strategically and
expedite permitting Staff
Renewable Energy Project Managers in California Desert District (CDD) and State Office
Timing
How we can work together to expedite processing: Pre-application meeting with BLM Post-application, pre-plan of development meeting
with BLM, CEC, CDFG, USFWS Engineering and technical reports Cultural and biological surveys following established
protocol Excellent communication Other ideas?
Contacts
Ashley Conrad-Saydah, State Office Renewable Energy Project
Manager; [email protected]
Greg Miller, CDD Renewable Energy Program Manager;
Jim Abbott, Associate State Director, Acting State Director
Tom Pogacnik, Deputy State Director, Natural Resources
Steve Borchard, California Desert District Manager
Bob Doyel, Lands Chief
Your local field office staff
Thank you!Questions?
Wikipedia Commons SEGS plant; Wikipedia Commons