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July 22, 2008
BLM to Continue Accepting Applications for Solar Energy Projects
After a national outcry from the solar
industry and political leaders across the West, the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) announced on July 2 that it plans to continue
accepting applications for future solar energy projects on public
lands. The decision was a reversal of an earlier decision to suspend
the permit process for solar projects.
In late May, the BLM began a joint
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) with the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) to address the impacts of solar energy
development on BLM-managed public lands in six Western states,
including Colorado. During the PEIS work, BLM said it was suspending
accepting new applications until the work was completed.
The solar industry expressed concern that the
PEIS process might take years and unnecessarily delay hundreds of
solar projects. The BLM is already evaluating 130 applications for
solar energy power projects on public lands. The Solar Energy
Industries Association (SEIA) issued a statement in Washington D.C.
applauding the decision.
http://www.seia.org/solarnews.php?id=190
In June, Colorado political leaders, including
Governor Bill Ritter, had expressed concern about the BLM decision
to halt solar applications. In early July, U.S. Congressman Mark
Udall (D–Eldorado Springs) wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Dick
Kempthorne asking the BLM to reverse its decision.
http://markudall.house.gov/NR/rdonlyres/A4C915DC-5A15-4EFE-B45B-C4DBC13DD64D/0/LettertoSecretaryKempthorne.pdf
As SEIA noted, however, the effort to gain
approval for these solar projects continues. Although the BLM is
once again accepting applications, it has yet to give its approval
for a single solar power project to move forward.
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