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SOLAR ENERGY ZONES Under initiatives announced recently by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), federal agencies will work with leaders in the West to designate tracts of U.S. public lands as prime zones for utility-scale solar energy development, fund environmental studies, open new solar energy permitting offices, and speed reviews of industry proposals. “President Obama’s comprehensive energy strategy calls for rapid development of renewable energy, especially on America’s public lands,” said Salazar. “This environmentally sensitive plan will identify appropriate Interior-managed lands that have excellent solar energy potential and limited conflicts with wildlife, other natural resources, or land users. The two dozen areas we are evaluating could generate nearly 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity.” Known as solar energy study areas, 24 tracts of Bureau of Land Management-administered land (encompassing about 1,046 square miles) located in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah would be fully evaluated for their environmental and resource suitability for large-scale solar energy production. The objective is to provide landscape-scale planning and zoning for solar projects on BLM lands in the West, allowing a more efficient process for permitting and siting solar development.
SOLAR ENERGY ZONES
Under initiatives announced recently by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), federal agencies will work with leaders in the West to designate tracts of U.S. public lands as prime zones for utility-scale solar energy development, fund environmental studies, open new solar energy permitting offices, and speed reviews of industry proposals.
“President Obama’s comprehensive energy strategy calls for rapid development of renewable energy, especially on America’s public lands,” said Salazar. “This environmentally sensitive plan will identify appropriate Interior-managed lands that have excellent solar energy potential and limited conflicts with wildlife, other natural resources, or land users. The two dozen areas we are evaluating could generate nearly 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity.”
Known as solar energy study areas, 24 tracts of Bureau of Land Management-administered land (encompassing about 1,046 square miles) located in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah would be fully evaluated for their environmental and resource suitability for large-scale solar energy production. The objective is to provide landscape-scale planning and zoning for solar projects on BLM lands in the West, allowing a more efficient process for permitting and siting solar development.