Department of the Interior

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By Marc Campopiano and Gunnar Gundersen

On April 21, 2015, Sally Jewell, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, announced that a sub-population of greater sage-grouse along the California-Nevada border does not require Endangered Species Act protection.

In 2010, the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the bi-state population of greater sage-grouse a “distinct population segment” under the ESA because it has significant genetic differences from other greater sage-grouse. The population had declined significantly from urbanization, encroachment of sagebrush…

By Janice Schneider, Laura A. Godfrey, Buck Endemann and Taiga Takahashi

Earlier this year, the Navy, Army, and Air Force committed to deploy three gigawatts total of renewable energy on service installations by 2025. In late July, the Department of the Interior (“DOI”) and the Department of Defense (“DOD”) took the first steps to implement this policy by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) aimed to facilitate the federal government’s goals of increasing renewable energy generation from…

By Janice Schneider and Stacey VanBelleghem

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has proposed significant reforms to its current regulations for non-agricultural surface leases on Indian land.  76 Fed. Reg. 73784 (Nov. 29, 2011).  The proposed regulations include new provisions expressly governing Wind Energy Evaluation Leases (WELs) and Wind and Solar Resource (WSR) Leases and would streamline the leasing approval process while allowing additional flexibility that is lacking under the current regulatory framework.  The leasing reforms are consistent with…

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…

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.

Eight Years.  That’s how long it took what will likely be the nation’s first offshore wind farm to obtain a federal lease.  It is little wonder, in light of Cape Wind’s struggle, that wind advocates have been pushing for greater federal support.  Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of the Interior continued efforts to answer that call, jointly announcing the release of “A National Offshore Wind Strategy” aimed at developing the tremendous wind resources off the nation’s coastlines.  This interagency effort is backed by 50.5 million dollars in DOE funding to support research and development of offshore wind installations.

The nation’s potential for offshore wind power is impressive: according to DOE, wind resources off the U.S. coastline (including the Great Lakes) could theoretically produce an estimated 4,150 gigawatts (GW) of energy—more than four times the current generating capacity of nation’s electrical system.   As the new strategy recognizes, however, the difference between theory and reality is significant.  Currently, offshore wind farms have considerably higher capital costs than land-based installations, due in part to increased equipment, installation, interconnection, and infrastructure costs.  For example, existing installation and maintenance procedures involve the use of specialized vessels that simply do not exist in the U.S.

Further, as a new industry, offshore wind faces unique and novel permitting challenges.  Multiple state and federal agencies have jurisdiction over the development of offshore wind farms.  In the case of the Great Lakes, for example, DOE notes that eight states and a Canadian province claim jurisdiction—with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers serving as the “lead agency” for purposes of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).  Adding to the complexity is the relative lack of data regarding the environmental and social effects of offshore wind installations.