{"id":34759,"date":"2024-01-22T00:04:33","date_gmt":"2024-01-22T05:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=34759"},"modified":"2024-01-22T00:07:41","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T05:07:41","slug":"montana-free-press-plans-call-for-more-solar-development-on-public-lands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/01\/22\/montana-free-press-plans-call-for-more-solar-development-on-public-lands\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Free Press: Plans call for more solar development on public lands"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Solar<\/a>
Solar panels on the Moapa River Reservation in Nevada, home to the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians. Photo: First Solar, via U.S. Department of Energy<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
BLM unveils plan for utility-scale solar development in western states<\/div>\r\n
The United States\u2019 largest land manager is soliciting public input on a plan to open federal land to new solar projects.<\/div>\r\n
Monday, January 22, 2024<\/div>\r\n
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Montana Free Press<\/DIV>\r\n
montanafreepress.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Bureau of Land Management last week released a plan to bring utility-scale solar energy projects to five western states that currently lack a framework for permitting such projects. The plan is the result of a year-long effort by the agency to solicit input on what considerations should be foregrounded in the permitting process as it opens federal lands in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and Oregon to solar development.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nThe BLM, which manages one-tenth of the land in the nation, and 9% of the land in Montana, described the new plan as part of President Joe Biden\u2019s agenda to accelerate the country\u2019s transition to clean energy and expand the transmission infrastructure needed to tie new projects into the grid. In a January 17 announcement<\/a>, the agency said that buildout will \u201clower consumers\u2019 energy costs, prevent power outages in the face of extreme weather [and] create good-paying union jobs,\u201d among other benefits.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cOur public lands are playing a critical role in the clean energy transition \u2014 and the progress the Bureau of Land Management is announcing today on several clean energy projects across the West represents our continued momentum in achieving those goals,\u201d BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning<\/a> said in a release about the plan<\/a> \u201cInvesting in clean and reliable renewable energy represents the BLM\u2019s commitment to building a clean energy economy, tackling the climate crisis, promoting American energy security, and creating jobs in communities across the country.\u201d

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We’re aiming to make significant progress on clean energy projects in 2024. An essential step in this initiative is to expand solar development and provide more reliable renewable energy to the American people. Learn more: https:\/\/t.co\/E9p0iYyWcS.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\nThe nuts and bolts of the initiative are included in the Utility-Scale Solar Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement<\/a>, also known as the updated Western Solar Plan. The agency is currently soliciting public input on which of the identified alternatives in the draft plan should be adopted.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nIn addition to a status quo (\u201cno-action\u201d) option, the plan outlines five frameworks for permitting the kind of large-scale solar energy development that\u2019s been in play across southwestern states including New Mexico and Nevada for more than a decade. 

<\/P>\r\n\r\nThe agency\u2019s preferred alternative, Alternative 3, prioritizes proximity to transmission infrastructure, an acknowledgment that even expanded permitting of new energy projects can\u2019t meet market demand without power lines to move electricity to where it\u2019s needed. Under that alternative, BLM land located within 10 miles of existing or planned high-voltage transmission lines \u2014 those with a capacity of at least 100 kV \u2014 that also meet additional criteria could be made available for solar projects.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nAccording to the plan, Alternative 3 will prevent \u201ctransmission infrastructure sprawl\u201d while \u201cprotecting high-value resources, thus reducing habitat fragmentation, natural resource disturbance and environmental and cultural resource impacts.\u201d

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Figure ES-3. BLM-Administered Lands Excluded and Available for Application in the 11-State Planning Area under Alternative 3<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIf the BLM selects Alternative 3 as drafted, approximately 210,000 acres of the more than 8 million acres of BLM-managed land in Montana could become available for solar developments. The majority of the Montana land deemed a good fit for solar development under Alternative 3 is located north of the Hi-Line. About 504,000 acres of BLM land in Montana is located too far from a high-voltage transmission line to be considered, and another 7.3 million acres have been deemed ill-suited to solar development due to concerns related to ecological, historical, cultural and recreational resources. 

<\/P>\r\n\r\nMore than 20 resource-oriented criteria would preclude an area from consideration under Alternative 3. In addition to wildlife considerations \u2014 for example, the presence of big game migration corridors, greater sage grouse habitat or the presence of threatened or endangered species \u2014 such exclusionary criteria include the presence of congressionally designated Wild and Scenic rivers or Scenic or Historic trails. Sites of cultural significance to Native American tribes are also excluded. 

<\/P>\r\n\r\nOther proposed alternatives in the draft plan dial up or down the emphasis on the following considerations: resource-based concerns, transmission proximity, use of previously disturbed lands, and slope. (Land with a slope of 10% or greater is more susceptible to erosion.) 

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