Bureau of Land Management

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By Taiga Takahashi

In previous commentary, we have noted the importance of a well-developed administrative record in project approval in risk management, controlling the potential for delay, and in project-related litigation. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California recently affirmed this general principle in rejecting a broad-based challenge by an environmental group and a labor union (the “Plaintiffs”) in Desert Protective Council v. U.S. Department of the Interior, No. 12cv1281-GPC(PCL) (S.D. Cal. Feb. 27, 2013).…

By Janice M. Schneider and Andrea M. Hogan

On February 27, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California rejected the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation’s (“Quechan Tribe”) suit challenging the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility Project (the “Project”), a wind energy project in the Sonoran Desert in California.  See Quechan Tribe of Fort Yuma Indian Reservation v. U.S. Department of Interior, et al., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27069 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 27, 2013). …

By Anne B. Beaumont 

On January 18, 2013, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the approval of Arizona’s Restoration Design Energy Project (RDEP), a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) initiative to identify public lands in Arizona that may be suitable for renewable energy development.

The RDEP Record of Decision (ROD)[1] establishes 192,100 acres of renewable energy development areas (REDAs) on BLM lands across Arizona. These REDAs are available for solar or wind energy development and are close to…

By Janice Schneider, Buck Endemann, and Jennifer Roy

On October 22, 2012, the Ninth Circuit vacated certain federal authorizations for the Ruby Pipeline, a completed natural gas pipeline running from Wyoming to Oregon.  The Court concluded that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) Biological Opinion (BiOp) failed to comply with the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).[1]  The Court also found that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Record of Decision (ROD) relying on the…

By Laura A. Godfrey, Janice M. Schneider and Anne B. Beaumont

Latham & Watkins has issued a Client Alert regarding the Record of Decision approving the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States.” With the signing of the Record of Decision on October 12, 2012, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) adopted a comprehensive Solar Energy Program to administer the development of utility-scale solar energy resources on BLM-administered lands in six southwestern states: Arizona…

By Laura Godfrey, Joshua Marnitz and Janice Schneider

On July 27, 2012, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as joint lead agencies announced the availability of the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States (Final Solar PEIS).  77 Fed. Reg. 44267 (July 27, 2012).  Release of the Final Solar PEIS represents the near-culmination of a process begun by BLM and DOE (the Agencies) in May 2008…

By Janice Schneider and Joshua Marnitz

Last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published in the Federal Register an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking outlining a competitive process for leasing public lands for solar and wind energy development.  76 Fed. Reg. 81906 (December 29, 2011).  BLM believes that a competitive process will better enable it to capture fair market value for the use of public lands, as required under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) (43 U.S.C.

By Michael Feeley and Aron Potash

A lawsuit which delayed and once threatened to dismantle California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) cap and trade scheme was largely resolved last week, removing one roadblock to California’s plan to be the first state to impose an economy-wide GHG trading program.  Under modified regulations adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on October 20, 2011, California will require certain emitters of GHGs to obtain allowances or offsets in amounts commensurate to their respective emissions…

By James L. Arnone, Damon P. Mamalakis, and Janice M. Schneider

On June 30, 2011, District Judge Roger T. Benitez of the Southern District of California issued a decision allowing San Diego Gas and Electronic Company (SDG&E) to proceed with its construction of the Sunrise Powerlink, a 117-mile electrical transmission line that will connect the San Diego area with the vast renewable energy resources of California’s Imperial Valley.  When completed, the Sunrise Powerlink is expected to enhance the reliability…

David A. Goldberg and Daniel S. Feinberg

The Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) has extended the public comment period for the Draft Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (“Draft Solar PEIS”) by thirty days to April 16, 2011.  The Draft Solar PEIS should be of interest to any developer seeking to build utility-scale solar energy projects or associated transmission infrastructure on public lands in the Southwestern United States, as the adoption of any of the study’s proposed plans of action could dramatically influence solar energy development on BLM-administered lands.

The Draft Solar PEIS is a detailed study released in December 2010 by BLM and the Department of Energy that evaluates the environmental, economic and social impacts of solar energy development on BLM-managed public lands in the Southwest.  As part of the study, BLM identified 24 “solar energy zones” (“SEZs”) that it deemed most suitable for environmentally sound, utility-scale solar energy development in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.  The study addressed three alternatives for managing utility-scale solar energy development: a solar energy development program alternative and a solar energy zone alternative (collectively, the “action” alternatives), and a no-action alternative.