The Bureau of Land Management finalized their Solar and Wind Rule on November 10 that codifies a leasing process for the development of industrial scale wind and solar energy on public lands. The rule strengthens the agency?s existing ?Smart from the Start? policies while establishing a competitive leasing process and providing incentives to encourage development in the most suitable areas. The rule will streamline the leasing process for development in designated leasing areas. These are the areas where there is the highest generation potential and the fewest resource conflicts, as identified in landscape plans such as the Western Solar Plan, California?s Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, and Arizona?s Restoration Design Energy Project.

?By offering incentives for development in areas with fewer resource conflicts, the BLM?s rule provides a framework to support all of the landscape scale planning we?ve done to better plan for and manage wind and solar development,? said Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Janice Schneider in a statement. ?The rule also refines the BLM?s approach to fair market value, to ensure that taxpayers get a fair return from these important resources.?