On October 27, the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a supplement to the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Solar Energy Development. The revisions make several key improvements to the plan by reducing the number and acreage within solar energy zones, establishing exclusion zones where development is incompatible with other resources, and clarifying the process for developing additional zones in the future, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The conservation community that had voiced concerns about the potential impacts on habitat and recreational access welcomed the changes.

"The original draft solar plan recommended leaving a number of areas open to development and transmission. This could have negative impacts to hunting and angling opportunity by reducing habitat and local water resources," said Steve Belinda, Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership's Center for Responsible Energy Development. "But the BLM clearly recognized these concerns and has made a solid effort at resolving those issues. We thank them for it."

The original draft PEIS, was released in December 2010. According to the BLM, the PEIS is intended to "assesses environmental, social, and economic impacts associated with the development and implementation of agency-specific programs that would facilitate environmentally responsible utility-scale solar energy development in six southwestern states [Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah]."?? The plan would have created 24 Solar Energy Zones (SEZs) on 677,000 acres that would be the priority areas for solar development. However, the original draft also allowed substantial flexibility for development of 21 million acres outside the SEZs, maintaining the potential of solar development on areas where it might have more impact on habitat and wildlife.

The recently released Supplement to the Draft PEIS reduced the overall SEZs down to 17, limiting the potentially impacted acreage within the zones to about 285,000 acres. The Supplement outlines a more complete description of the process for identifying zones, including an analysis of transmission availability and potential resource conflicts. Also, zones were refined or removed due to development constraints or serious resource conflicts. In addition, the Supplement describes in more detail the incentives for developers to site new projects in solar energy zones?including greater certainty and shorter permitting times?but still allows for a variance process for siting solar facilities outside of the zones, although there are consistent criteria for their establishment. The policy would not apply to the 10 solar projects already under construction or the roughly 80 pending applications that would occupy 685,000 acres of public land, only about 85,000of which are within the designated zones.

"Our partners in this effort have suggested ways to strengthen the proposed solar energy program and increase certainty regarding solar energy development on public lands," Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. "This Solar PEIS establishes for the first time a blueprint for landscape-level planning that will help facilitate smarter siting of solar energy projects. Today's announcement lays a solid foundation for an enduring, sustainable solar energy future for our nation."

However, the revisions met with a more tepid response from the solar energy industry. "For solar energy to continue working for America, the U.S. must develop its abundant solar resources in the American Southwest, including development of projects on public lands. The Solar PEIS will set the rules of the game for project development over the next 20 years and it is critical that we get it right," stated Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. "While we are still reviewing all of the details in this proposal, there are some significant areas of concern regarding the viability of a solar-energy zone approach. Siting flexibility and access to transmission are key to the financing and development of utility-scale solar power plants. Both aspects must be reflected in the final PEIS."

The comment period for the Supplement to the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Solar Energy Development will be open until late January 2012. The final plan is expected to be completed by next summer. (jas)