Bureau of Land Management proposes 31 million acres of western land for solar development

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today announced its proposed roadmap for solar energy development on public lands, designed to expand efficient and environmentally responsible solar project permitting on public lands across the West. Today’s release of the Final Utility-Scale Solar Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendments (also known as the proposed updated Western Solar Plan), comes as the Biden-Harris administration releases new data on improved federal permitting processes to help deliver more projects, more efficiently, across the United States.

“The updated Western Solar Plan will help build modern, resilient energy infrastructure that creates a strong clean energy economy and protects our communities from the worsening impacts of climate change,” said Steve Feldgus, principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management. “Through extensive planning and collaboration, we’re not only protecting our public lands but also ensuring that permitting for solar projects moves faster and more efficiently, avoiding conflicts and striking the right balance as we advance clean energy and safeguard the environment.”

Developed with public input, the proposed updated Western Solar Plan will guide BLM’s management of solar energy proposals and projects on public lands. It would make over 31 million acres of public lands across 11 western states available for potential solar development, siting development closer to transmission lines or on previously disturbed lands and avoiding protected lands, sensitive cultural resources and wildlife habitat.

The plan updates and expands the original 2012 Western Solar Plan in order to reflect changes in technology and meet the higher demand for solar energy development. This plan analyzes five additional western states (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming), in addition to the six states analyzed in the original plan.

“The updated Western Solar Plan is a responsible, pragmatic strategy for developing solar energy on our nation’s public lands that supports national clean energy goals and long-term national energy security,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “It will drive responsible solar development to locations with fewer potential conflicts while helping the nation transition to a clean energy economy, furthering the BLM’s mission to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.”

Proposed solar projects will still undergo site-specific environmental review and public comment. This final statement follows a draft published in January 2024 for public comment, with input from stakeholders helping BLM to make additional updates that will help protect wildlife habitats and migration corridors and other key resources, while providing clarity to the industry about low-conflict areas and project design approaches to guide responsible development.

To date, the Biden-Harris administration has approved 40 renewable energy projects on public lands (nine solar, 13 geothermal and 18 gen-ties), reaching its goal to permit 25 GW by 2025. In total, BLM has now permitted clean energy projects on public lands with a total capacity of approximately 29 GW of power – enough to power over 12 million homes. This year BLM also issued a final Renewable Energy Rule devised to lower consumer energy costs and the cost of developing solar and wind projects, improve project application processes and incentivize developers to continue responsibly developing solar and wind projects on public lands.

Publication of the Final Utility-Scale Solar Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendments initiates a 30-day protest period and 60-day governor’s consistency review. Following resolution of any remaining issues identified in this phase, the BLM will publish the Record of Decision and Final Resource Management Plan Amendments.

The proposed Western Solar Plan builds on President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which aims to transition the nation to clean energy, lower energy costs for consumers, create union jobs, address the climate crisis and advance clean air and environmental justice priorities, with the goal of achieving a 100% clean electricity grid by 2035. Earlier this year, BLM surpassed the goal of permitting more than 25 GW of clean energy projects on public lands, and the updated Western Solar Plan will support continued progress on responsible permitting.

“One of the fastest ways to decarbonize our grid is to greenlight well-planned clean energy development on federal lands, and the improvements to this environmental review document will certainly help,” said Ben Norris, VP of regulatory affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “We will continue to work with BLM and other federal agencies to promote responsible clean energy development on public lands and streamline the permitting process.”

News item from the Bureau of Land Management