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Dive Brief:
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued its proposed updated Western Solar Plan on Thursday, designating more than 31 million acres of public land in 11 states as open to utility-scale solar development.
The plan adds about 9 million acres beyond the original 22 million acres proposed by the BLM earlier this year.
Solar projects on public land will still need to undergo site-specific environmental reviews, but the new Western Solar Plan should help speed the permitting process by steering development away from areas with potential conflicts, according to a statement from the Biden administration.
Dive Insight:
The BLM is set to open more public land to solar development than previously thought with the Thursday release of its proposed updated Western Solar Plan.
Under the plan, solar developers may consider sites within 15 miles of existing or proposed transmission lines, except in areas designated by the BLM as having a high likelihood of coming into contact with other land resources, including sensitive wildlife and cultural areas. The BLM’s original proposal, issued in January, suggested a 10-mile restriction that would have limited solar development to roughly 22 million acres, though proposals covering up to 55 million acres were on the table.
Both plans were intended to revise the BLM’s original 2012 Western Solar Plan primarily by adding areas designated for development in five states not covered by the original plan — Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. The agency has to date approved 29 GW of renewable energy projects, exceeding the Biden administration’s 25-GW goal, according to an agency press release.
“The updated Western Solar Plan is a responsible, pragmatic strategy for developing solar energy on our nation’s public lands that supports national clean energy goals and long-term national energy security,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a statement. “It will drive responsible solar development to locations with fewer potential conflicts while helping the nation transition to a clean energy economy, furthering the BLM’s mission to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.”
Ben Norris, vice president of regulatory affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association, praised the plan’s expansion as a “step in the right direction” but said that fossil fuel industries still have access to “over 80 million acres of public land, 2.5 times the amount of public land available for solar.”
“One of the fastest ways to decarbonize our grid is to greenlight well-planned clean energy development on federal lands, and the improvements to this environmental review document will certainly help,” Norris said in a statement. “We will continue to work with BLM and other federal agencies to promote responsible clean energy development on public lands and streamline the permitting process.”
Although some environmental groups opposed portions of the January proposal on the basis that it opened unsuitable and fragile ecosystems to solar development, The Wildnerness Society also praised the final rule for opening public land to renewable energy while protecting ecologically critical areas.
The proposed plan faces a 30-day protest period and a 60-day governors’ consistency review, according to the BLM. After resolving any issues identified in the review phase, the BLM will publish a record of decision and final resource management plan amendments, the agency said.
