Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendments for Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development

Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendments for Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has developed the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final Programmatic EIS) and Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendments (Proposed RMPA) for Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development (the “Updated Western Solar Plan”). The BLM developed the Proposed RMPA based on feedback on the Action Alternatives received during the public comment and cooperating agency processes following publication of the Draft Programmatic EIS. The Proposed RMPA, which includes a blend of elements from the range of alternatives analyzed in the Draft Programmatic EIS, describes the BLM’s proposed approach for implementing utility-scale PV solar energy development on BLM-administered land. The purpose of the proposed action is to improve initial siting of utility-scale photovoltaic solar energy development proposals by identifying “solar application areas,” which are areas of BLM-administered lands where proposals for solar energy development are anticipated to encounter fewer resource conflicts compared to areas identified as “exclusion areas” where solar development is likely to encounter significant resource conflicts, making them unsuitable for solar development proposals. There is a need to improve the solar development application process by providing development opportunities in specified solar application areas while maintaining sufficient flexibility to account for site-specific resource considerations on a case-by-case basis during consideration of project-specific applications and associated NEPA analysis. The planning area is located within the States of Arizona, California (excluding the lands covered by the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan in the southern California deserts), Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The Proposed RMPA would amend BLM land use plans throughout the planning area to exclude solar energy development in areas that need protection. The amendments would also update design features and environmental evaluation processes and incorporate new information and analysis. The BLM planning regulations in 43 CFR § 1610.3-2(e) provide each governor up to 60 days to identify inconsistencies with approved state or local plans, policies, or programs and to provide written recommendations to the BLM State Director.

Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, Yuba

Statewide

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Baldwin Hills Conservancy (BHC), California Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy (CVMC), California Coastal Commission (CCC), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Delta Region 3 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Central Region 4 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Habitat Conservation Planning (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Inland Deserts Region 6 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marin Region 7 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, North Central Region 2 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Northern and Eureka Region 1 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, South Coast Region 5 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Justice, Attorney General's Office, California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, California Department of State Parks, Division of Boating and Waterways, California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), California Department of Transportation, District 1 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 10 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 11 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 12 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 2 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 3 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 4 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 5 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 6 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 7 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 8 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 9 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Planning (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Energy Commission, California Fish and Game Commission (CDFGC), California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Region 3 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Fresno Region 5 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Redding Region 5 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Sacramento Region 5 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Colorado River Basin Region 7 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Lahontan South Lake Tahoe Region 6 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Lahontan Victorville Region 6 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region 4 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, North Coast Region 1 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region 9 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region 2 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region 8 (RWQCB), California San Diego River Conservancy (SDRC), California San Joaquin River Conservancy (SJRC), California Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC), California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), California State Lands Commission (SLC), California Tahoe Conservancy, California Transportation Commission (CATC), Central Valley Flood Protection Board, Colorado River Board, Delta Protection Commission, Delta Stewardship Council, Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), Office of Historic Preservation, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC), Santa Monica Bay Restoration, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, State Water Resources Control Board, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS)

Other (Resource Management Plan )

Resource Management Plan

Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Coastal Zone, Cultural Resources, Cumulative Effects, Drainage/Absorption, Economics/Jobs, Energy, Flood Plain/Flooding, Geology/Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Growth Inducement, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mandatory Findings of Significance, Mineral Resources, Noise, Public Services, Recreation, Solid Waste, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Utilities/Service Systems, Vegetation, Wildfire