Bush Administration Backs Solar Development on Public Lands

SAN FRANCISCO, California, October 25, 2004 (ENS) - A new federal policy to encourage the development of solar energy resources on America’s public lands was announced during the Solar Power 2004 conference on Thursday in San Francisco.

“Our quality of life and economic security are dependent on a stable and abundant supply of affordable energy,” said Rebecca Watson, assistant secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management, as she announced the new policy. “Encouraging the production and development of renewable energy on our public lands, including solar energy, is part of the president’s National Energy Policy.”

But the National Energy Policy was announced in May 2001, and the Bush administration is just now getting around to encouraging solar power. In fact, the Bush budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year 2002 cut $49.8 million from the solar energy resources program level funded under the Clinton administration.

The McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (now Boeing) dish Stirling System operating at Southern California Edison Solar One test site, March 2000. The system is currently being commercialized by Boeing and Stirling Energy Systems. (Photo courtesy Sandia/NREL)

For Fiscal Year 2004, the Bush administration cut solar solar energy programs by another $3 million.

Now the Bush administration is going to make it easier for private developers to place solar installations on public lands.

The new Solar Energy Development Policy establishes a framework for land managers to use in processing right-of-way applications for solar energy development projects on public lands administered by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.

The solar energy resources in the southwestern United States are some of the finest in the world, said Watson.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management Rebecca Watson (Photo courtesy Interior Department)

“This is a way for the BLM to be proactive in responding to changes in solar technology while protecting the environment. It also supports an initiative by the Western Governors Association and the Department of Energy to explore the feasibility of developing 30,000 megawatts of clean energy in the West by 2015.”

While domestic production of renewable energy is growing, Watson said, experts forecast that renewable energy alone cannot fill the gap between domestic energy production and demand in the foreseeable future or in the next 20 years.

Renewable sources supply two percent of U.S. energy today, and that percentage is expected to grow to 10 percent by 2025 according the Energy Information Administration, a federal agency.

More than 261 million acres of land, primarily in the West, are managed by the BLM. Unlike parks and wildlife refuges, BLM managed lands are managed for multiple uses, including fossil fuel and renewable energy development.

A 2003 report by the BLM and the U.S. Department of Energy assessed the potential for renewable energy resources on public lands managed by the BLM in 11 Western states.

The report identified areas in Arizona, Southern California, Nevada and New Mexico as the most promising areas for solar energy development on public lands. Parts of Texas, Utah and Colorado also have excellent solar resources.

The 2003 report identified the top 25 BLM areas with high solar energy development potential. "I have requested the BLM use this information in current and future land-use planning to prepare for development of solar energy on public lands," Watson said.

The Dangling Rope Marina photovoltaic/hybrid power system, in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area at Lake Powell, Utah, is the largest solar energy system in the National Park Service. It is estimated to save over $2.3 million in fuel and maintenance costs over a 20 year period. (Photo by Warren Gretz courtesy NREL)

Concentrating solar power in the Jack Morrow Hills of Wyoming, Farmington, New Mexico planning unit, the California Desert Amendment North & East Colorado Desert, California Desert Amendment North & East Mojave Desert, and the California Desert Amendment West Mojave Desert.

There is potential for photovoltaic solar cell development in the Black Rock/High Rock National Conservation Areas of Nevada, the California Desert Amendment North & East Colorado Desert, the California Desert Amendment North & East Mojave Desert, the California Desert Amendment West Mojave Desert, and the Santa Rosa National Monument.

BLM Field Offices will consider and authorize commercial solar facilities as rights-of-way (ROWs) under the authority of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Watson said. Construction can proceed after approval of a Plan of Development and the environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

ROW applications are identified as high priorities in the Field Office workload and will be processed in a timely manner, using sound business practices, on a first-come basis, Watson said.

Real estate appraisals will be used by BLM managers to calculate rental payments. Rental payments will be phased in over a three-year period and updated annually using an index.

All concentrating solar power systems and photovoltaic installations must comply with the planning, environmental, National Environmental Policy Act review and right-of-way requirements that the BLM uses to evaluate all proposed commercial uses of public lands.

The policy also encourages the installation of renewable power sources, including solar systems, at BLM facilities.

Find out more about solar power technologies online at: http://www.nrel.gov/clean_energy/solar.html

The BLM Solar Energy Development Land Authorization Policy is outlined in an instructional memorandum online at: http://www.blm.gov/nhp/efoia/wo/fy05/im2005-006.htm.