BLM Proposes Updated Plan To Streamline Solar Development In The West

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced on January 17, 2024, the publication of its draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to help streamline and accelerate utility-scale solar energy development on public lands throughout the West. The draft PEIS is the product of BLM's year-long outreach and public engagement effort to understand the needs and priorities for solar development on public lands across 11 western states.

BLM seeks to guide applications for development of solar rights-of-way (ROWs) away from public lands with a known high potential for resource conflict while also maintaining sufficient flexibility to adjust for site-specific resource concerns. BLM's preferred strategy involves prioritizing lands for solar that have minimal natural resource constraints (e.g., avoiding habitats for sensitive species), less than 10% slope, and are located within 10 miles of existing or planned transmission lines. Under proposed land use plan