renewable energy blueprint (print version)

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Smart Steps to Establish a Responsible Program

for Renewable Energy on Public Lands

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Since its rst day in oce, the Obama Administrationhas made rapid and responsible expansion o renewableenergy a top priority. The public lands have played amajor role in achieving early goals, but only because

o ocused eort to correct decades o inattention andinactivity toward developing renewable energy as a majorcomponent o the nations energy mix.

Beore 2009, there had been no organized eort toleverage the abundant wind, solar, and geothermalrenewable energy resources on public lands to power theeconomy and to support the growing renewable energyindustry. In the Obama Administrations rst term, theDepartment o the Interior (Department) and its Bureau oLand Management (BLM) stood up a sensible renewableenergy program or our public lands. For example, theBLM has made substantial progress in working through

a large queue o backlogged applications inheritedrom the previous administration. More than 30 projectswere permitted or more than 10,000 megawatts o newrenewable power. These projects are creating jobs, drivinginnovation, and will help supply Western markets withclean, renewable power or decades to come.

Importantly, as the Administration pursued its renewableenergy goals in the rst term, it worked to strike anappropriate balance between the development orenewable energy resources and the protection o sensitive

lands. Agency proessionals helped guide the siting andmitigation requirements or proposed renewable energyprojects to reduce and oset land and wildlie disturbance,and also developed policies and procedures to guidegood decision-making going orward. In SecretarialOrder 3285, the Administration set the stage or this newapproach to energy development on the public lands,ocusing on development and transmission o renewableenergy rom appropriate areas.1

This approach includes both protection o landswith highest conservation and wildlands values romdevelopment and eorts to designate priority, low-confict

areas or project construction. The Order also specicallycalls or new or revised policies needed to increasedevelopment and transmission o power rom renewableenergy resources on public lands. In addition, the BLMlaid out guidance or eld sta to ocus limited agencyresources on applications in areas that are low confictwith respect to sensitive natural resources. The BLM alsoidentied lands as suitable or development across thewest through the Solar Programmatic EnvironmentalImpact Statement and in Arizona under the RestorationEnergy Design Project. These frst steps toward a soundand sustainable renewable energy program on publiclands can serve as a model or how the Administration can

put the protection o lands and wildlie on equal groundwith the development o renewable energy.

1 Secrearial Order 3285 was signed on March 11, 2009, and amended onFebruary 22, 2010.

Renewable energy projects are creating jobs,

driving innovation, and will help supply

Western markets with clean, renewable

power or decades to come.

Smart Steps to Establish a Responsible Program or

Renewable Energy on Public Lands

iStockphoto.com/Dan Barnes

Cover photo:Protecting wildlandsrom development iskey or a smart renew-able energy program.John Tull


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The Administration can and should build on this oundationby continuing to expand renewable energy developmentin a way that protects our most sensitive lands, developingan accurate accounting o climate benets and impacts oall orms o energy development on public land, movingahead with smart, landscape-scale planning or renewableenergy across the West, and working with Congress toensure that taxpayers are receiving a air return rom the

development o their resources. How the Administrationresponds to these opportunities and challenges willdetermine whether its remarkable rst-term successes canbe translated into a lasting, long-term ramework or howrenewable energy on public lands can be developed in theright ways and in the right places.

Accordingly, this blueprint or action was developed toassist the Presidents new Secretary o the Interior SallyJewell by identiying progress made to date to createa renewable energy program on public lands, andhighlighting key aspects o the current program that haveyet to be completed or can be enhanced. This report

ocuses on implementation o key elements o SecretarialOrder 3285 as a means to prioritize opportunities over thenext our years:

1. Accurately account or climate benets and impacts

rom all energy development on public lands.

2. Guide wind development to appropriate areas

through landscape-level planning.

3. Balance responsible renewable energy development

with meaningul conservation designations through

processes and plans like the Desert Renewable Energy

Conservation Plan.

4. Successully implement the BLM solar program with

a ocus on development within designated zones and

use mitigation eorts to ully oset impacts.

5. Implement legal settlement on ederal transmission

corridors to better access wind and solar potential on

public lands in an environmentally responsible way.

6. Finalize wind and solar program rulemaking.

7. Secure additional authority to enhance support or

clean energy.

1. Accurately account or climate benefts and

impacts rom all energy development on public

lands.

For decades, energy development on public lands hasbeen dominated by ossil uel extraction. This single-minded ocus has come at a great cost not just to thewestern landscape, but also to the global climate. In 2012,The Wilderness Society commissioned a review by Stratus

Consulting to develop a preliminary estimate o the extento greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with ossiluels extracted rom ederal lands and waters throughprivate leasing. What we ound was chilling: nearly 23% oour nations GHG emissions originate rom ederal lands.Thats approximately 1,551 million metric tons o carbondioxide, equivalent to the GHG emissions o nearly all thecoal-red power plants in the US. Government accountingeorts reported only 66.4 million metric tons reported by

Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) underreportingby 95%.2 Without a ormal ocus on tracking emissions thatcontribute to climate change, the government does nothave reliable inormation upon which to orm a strategyto address climate change, including by supporting atransition to renewable energy, as envisioned in theollowing recommendations.

Additional Action Needed:

In April 2011, the CEQ released the rst-ever GreenhouseGas Emissions Inventory or the Federal Government: 2010Data (CEQ, 2011). The report presents the total estimatedGHG emissions resulting rom ederal government

agencies operations, including emissions rom buildingelectricity and water consumption, employee travel, andnumerous other activities. However, the inventory does notaccount or emissions associated with a range o activitiesthat are under ederal government agency control butare conducted by private entities. Such activities includeexploration, production, and development o ossil uelresources on ederal lands by private sector leaseholders.

2 See Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Energy Exraced from FederaLands and Waers, available a htp://wilderness.org/resource/greenhouse-gas-emissions-fossil-fuels-exraced-federal-lands.

The Department should complete its ormal rulemaking or wind and solar on publiclands. The Wilderness Society


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Accounting or these activities would increase the ederalgovernments total emissions o GHGs substantially. TheInterior Department should:

Produce an accurate accounting o global warmingemissions resulting rom Interior Department activitiesunder EO 13514, including ultimate emissions romenergy resources extracted rom public lands orwaters.

Establish departmental guidance or accounting

or greenhouse gas emissions under the NationalEnvironmental Policy Act rom major ederal actions.

Continue to allocate resources, even in an era osequestration, to this eort, by establishing a Climateand Energy Task Force to ensure these accountingsare made public and ongoing commitments are madeto address impacts o climate change rom the publiclands.

2. Guide wind development to appropriate areas

through landscape-level planning.

In 2013, Wyoming BLM plans to launch the WyomingWind and Transmission Study (WWATS), a multi-yearstate-wide planning process or Wyoming public lands toidentiy and incentivize low-confict, high potential areasor wind development and to identiy areas with sensitivenatural or cultural resources that should be excluded romdevelopment. The Wilderness Society is pressing BLMto launch a similar eort or Oregon and Nevada. Thesestates all have important sensitive lands and wild areas thatshould be protected, as well as excellent wind resourcesthat industry has shown an active interest in developing.

New wind development plans are necessary because the

2005 Programmatic Environmental Impact Statementrelating to the authorization o wind energy projects didnot guide wind projects and transmission to low confictareas, and in act let areas o high environmental valueopen to application. The 2005 plan ailed to ensure thatinappropriate lands are shielded rom development orto give the industry the certainty it needs to make soundbusiness decisions. In addition, the BLMs wind energypolicy rom 2008 is out o date in its approach to bestmanagement practices, measures to mitigate potentialimpacts on birds, wildlie habitat, and other resourcevalues, and guidance on administering wind energyauthorizations. Industry and the agency are let to address

developmentinterest project-by-project.

Even though winddevelopmenton our publiclands is still in itsrelative inancy,the high costs othis project-by-project approach

are already apparent or ederal agencies, projectproponents, stakeholders and our public lands. Confictand controversy have plagued many applications, andinappropriately sited projects are impacting birds,bats and other wildlie. In order to maximize the BLMslimited planning dollars, initial eort must be ocusedon landscape-scale pre-screening o areas where winddevelopment can be accommodated with minimalenvironmental conficts, while also identiying areas

which are inappropriate or development and should beexcluded rom that use. The WWATS eort should serve asa pilot or identiying appropriate wind development areasin other western states, incorporating inormation rom theBLMs greater sage-grouse planning eort.


The BLM should initiate and complete the WWATS studyand associated land designations or Wyoming, anddevelop a process that other key states can ollow. Thisapproach should generally:

Identiy sensitive areas that should be excluded rom

wind development.

Develop criteria or environmentally-preerable winddevelopment areas and sites.

Identiy near-term opportunities or getting windenergy on the grid. One o the biggest benetso guided development is the potential to inducetransmission to serve areas with excellent windresources.

Develop a process to identiy more comprehensivepriority wind development areas.

Develop and require use o best managementpractices and a regional approach to mitigation.

Where priority wind development areas are identied,the BLM must ensure lasting protection o associatedconservation areas to ensure wildlie and ecologicalsustainability. The BLM needs to make durable,eective land conservation allocations or at-riskspecies, including eagles, sage-grouse, lesser prairie-chickens, and other important resources i signicantrenewable energy development is going to proceed.It is paramount that protections or these allocationsare enduring because the energy projects willunquestionably be long-lasting, i not permanent.

3. Balance conservation and development with theDesert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan

The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP),being produced jointly by the State o Caliornia andederal agencies, is a major component o Caliornia'seorts to meet its renewable energy goals as directedby the progressive 33% by 2020 renewable portoliostandard adopted by the state in 2011. DRECP is asweeping planning process that will allocate publicand private lands to renewable energy developmentand conservation over a 22.5 million acre swath o theCaliornia Desert, o which approximately 12.5 million courtesy o NREL/Cielo Wind Power

Guiding wind development to low-confict areas willincrease success while limiting impacts.


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acres are ederal lands. The plan is an initiative o stateand ederal agencies and is being jointly prepared bythe BLM, the US Fish and Wildlie Service, the CaliorniaEnergy Commission and the Caliornia Department o Fishand Wildlie. The plan will govern land management o theCaliornia desert over a period o 30 years.

The DRECP is intended to provide eective protection andconservation o desert ecosystems while allowing or theappropriate development o renewable energy projects onpublic and private lands. According to the agencies, theDRECP will result in an ecient and eective biologicalmitigation and conservation program providing renewableproject developers with permitting and cost certaintyunder the ederal and Caliornia Endangered Species Acts.At the same time, it will preserve, restore and enhancenatural communities and related ecosystems. The DRECP,and the associated land use plan that BLM will produce toimplement it, has the potential to urther guide renewable

energy development to lower confict areas, while securingenduring conservation protections.

Successul completion o DRECP will require maintainingengagement and commitment o all stakeholders, andostering creativity to overcome early challenges. Forexample, concerns have been raised that the BLMdoes not have the policies necessary to create durableprotections or wildlie habitat. Success will also requireputting conservation on equal ground with energydevelopment to ensure new projects can be successullywoven into a landscape where the highest conservationand wildland values are protected and other competinginterests are considered.


For the DRECP to achieve the goals o advancingconservation and renewable energy development, theInterior Department should ensure that:

Mitigation actions endure at least as long as theimpacts rom development and provide real gains orconservation.

Conservation designations are protected rom bothenergy generation and transmission impacts.

Additions to the National Landscape ConservationSystem made through the DRECP are durable.

Sucient low-confict private and public lands aredesignated or development in the Caliornia desert tohelp meet the states renewable portolio standard.

4. Successully implement the BLM solar program

Last all, the Department o the Interior took several

historic steps towards changing the way energy isdeveloped on public lands by committing to a zone-basedapproach or solar energy development through the SolarProgrammatic Environmental Impact Statement or BLMsolar program. This approach recognizes and addressesthe challenges o siting large utility-scale energy projectson public lands and directs commercial development topre-screened, low-confict zones while protecting wildlandsand habitat or wildlie such as desert tortoise and sage-grouse rom development. Additionally, Arizona BLMnalized its Restoration Design Energy Project (RDEP) andidentied priority wind and solar development sites acrossthe state with an emphasis on already disturbed lands and

areas with ew conficting uses or values.

While these plans provide an excellent toolset ormanaging renewable energy on public lands, rigorousattention to implementation by the BLM will be required torealize the benets they oer.Additional Action Needed:

The near-term success o the BLM solar program willdepend on:

Establishing an eective petition process ordesignating additional Solar Energy Zones (SEZs)

in low-confict areas. This process should allowstakeholders to request an assessment o the needor new SEZs, the modication or retraction o anexisting SEZ, or the creation o a new SEZ. The BLM,in cooperation with the Department o Energy andthe states, should develop clear criteria in an open,transparent process or use in identiying new zones,

Responsible development avoids recreation areas on public lands. John Tull

Sensitive wildlie habitat is not appropriate or development. Ian Dowdy


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including the criteria identied in Appendix D o theBLM solar program and an indication o how stateand/or sub-regional-specic planning eorts, e.g. theDRECP and RDEP, will be the initial mechanism ordesignation o new zones.

Developing meaningul and eective regionalmitigation plans or designated SEZs. BLM has takenthe important step o initiating a pilot process todevelop a Regional Mitigation Plan or the Dry Lake

SEZ near Las Vegas, Nevada. This pilot and the plansthat will be developed or the rest o the zones oerthe opportunity to create more up-ront certaintyor developers regarding o-site mitigation costs,while taking a science-based approach to ocusingmitigation investments in areas which are regionallyimportant or wildlands and wildlie habitat.

Ensuring that the variance process or applicationsoutside o SEZs is implemented properly to guaranteethat applications outside o zones are the exception,not the rule, and applications in areas which areinappropriate or development are rejected.

5. Finalize wind and solar program rulemaking

Ultimately, a ormal wind and solar energy programwill require undertaking a ormal rulemaking to clearlyarticulate the legal and analytical ramework, and toissue binding requirements on the agency and projectapplicants. The current program relies on authoritypursuant to Title V o FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1761(a)(4)) togovern wind and solar development, and on agencyguidance in the orm o Instruction Memoranda to directagency actions. While this may be sucient direction toshape near-term development o these resources, we arealready seeing dierences in management emerge amongthe various BLM State Oces. These dierences arelikely to become more pronounced over time as projectproponents better understand the politics o the statesand the BLM. An enduring commitment to responsiblyand sustainably tapping the renewable energy resourcesound on the public lands will mean applying enorceablerequirements across the agency.

A rulemaking would also provide or early and meaningulstakeholder involvement in how these important resources

are administered. Under the current system, the public onlyhas the opportunity to comment on programmatic andproject-level environmental reviews. A public discussionwith robust opportunity or public input has never occurredor these important new programs, such as would occurwith new regulations published with public commentperiods.

Additionally, establishing a program ramework in law,

even using existing FLPMA authority, would signicantlyreduce uncertainty and agency vulnerability to legalchallenge.


In the absence o Congressional direction to act morequickly, the Department should issue a nal rule no laterthan the end o 2014 that amends the existing Code oFederal Regulations so that the legal and analytical ootingor wind and solar development are clearly articulated,including requirements or early and meaningulstakeholder involvement.

6. Fully implement the West-wide Energy Corridor

settlement

Section 368 o the Energy Policy Act o 2005 requires theSecretaries o Agriculture, Commerce, Deense, Energyand Interior, in consultation with the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission (FERC), other governments,industries, and other interested parties, to designateenergy corridors on ederal lands. The agencies arerequired to complete any environmental reviews andincorporate the corridors into existing land use plans aspart o the designation process. Section 368 also requiresthat the agencies establish procedures to ensure thatadditional corridors are designated promptly and toexpedite applications or construction o pipelines andpowerlines within the designated corridors.

In June 2012, a landmark settlement was reachedbetween ederal agencies and a coalition o conservationorganizations, including The Wilderness Society, aswell as a western Colorado county that had challengeddesignation o 6,000 miles o corridors or pipelines andpowerlines across the West. Through the settlement,the designations will be reevaluated and revised tobetter: avoid environmentally sensitive areas, diminish

prolieration o dispersed right-o-ways (ROWs), andacilitate development o renewable energy projects. Thesettlement includes timelines or completion o key steps,most within one year o signing, and the plaintis canenorce these obligations through the court i the agenciesdo not meet them.

Successul implementation o the settlement will protectsensitive wildlands and wildlie areas bisected by theoriginal designations, and will deliberately serve renewableenergy zones under development by the BLM and otherstate and regional processes by thoughtully adding,editing and deleting corridors.

Smart solar development on public lands is crucial or tackling climate change. Flickr/LangAlex


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Re-evaluation o the corridors under the settlementagreement will be accomplished through our key steps,which the Interior Department should support andacilitate:

BLM, Forest Service (FS) and Department o Energy(DOE) will enter into a Memorandum o Understanding(MOU) that will guide the agencies review o corridorsand mitigation measures or designated corridors andany new corridors through an interagency work group.

BLM, FS and DOE will ollow specied corridor sitingprinciples when reviewing corridors and developingrecommendations or revisions, deletions andadditions.

BLM and FS will issue guidance on use anddevelopment o corridors, including identiyingcorridors o concern and known conficts in thosecorridors, as well as emphasizing the need orenvironmental analysis o any proposed projects in acorridor pursuant to the National Environmental PolicyAct.

BLM and FS will incorporate and increase emphasis onenvironmental considerations into agency training onprocessing applications to site pipelines and electricaltransmission lines.

7. Secure additional authority to enhance support

or clean energy

The Department has gone a long way in a short whileto stand up a program or wind and solar energydevelopment. But Congress must provide the Departmentwith the ull set o tools to establish a robust, responsiblescal system to develop clean energy projects on publiclands.


The Department should have the authority to charge aroyalty per unit o electricity produced. In creating itsee structure, the Department currently lacks statutoryauthority to charge royalties and, thus, resorts tocharging annual rents that amount to a clumsy proxy ora production royalty. Sound wind and solar programsshould contain royalty provisions that may only bereduced or waived by the

administrative agenciesin very narrow, speciedcircumstances.

The Department shouldalso have the authority toreinvest revenue derivedrom the development oederally-controlled energyresources in conservationprograms that helpmitigate the adverseimpacts that accompany

such development. This precedent has been establishedin Public Law 88-578, 78 Stat. 897, or the developmento non-renewable energy resources in public waters.Given the anticipated scarcity o uture appropriations tohelp address the adverse impacts o renewable energydevelopment, climate change and other stresses on ourpublic lands, the Department should establish a programwhereby a share o the revenues derived rom utureprojects will be dedicated to a program designed toenhance the health and integrity o ecosystems adverselyimpacted by energy development.

Congress must provide

the Department with

the ull set o tools to

establish a robust,

responsible fscal system

to develop clean energy

projects on public lands.

Dennis Schroeder, courtesy o NREL


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CONCLUSION

The Interior Department is blessed with the opportunity to establish a clean energy and conservation legacyby creating an enduring program or responsible renewable energy development on public lands. Eortsover the last our years have resulted in important advances in both policy and projects, but long-termsuccess requires a relentless ocus on cementing those gains and tackling remaining challenges. We lookorward to working with Secretary Jewell and her sta to capitalize on the opportunities highlighted in thisblueprint or action our public lands and our clean energy uture depend on it.

...the last four years have resulted in important advances

in both policy and projects, but long-term success

requires a relentless focus on cementing those gains...

John Tull


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1615 M Street N.W.Washington, D.C. 20036

wilderness.org(202) 833-2300

For more inormation, please contact:

Chase Huntley

Director or Renewable [email protected](202) 429-7431

Alex DaueRenewable Energy [email protected](303) 650-5818 x108

Nada CulverSenior Director, Agency Policy & [email protected](303) 650-5818 x117

Cover photo John Tull

MAY 2013

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