Policies Affecting Siting

Energy Policy Act of 2005

The United States does not currently have a national RPS. However, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 states, “It is the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of the Interior should, before the end of the 10-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, seek to have approved non-hydropower renewable energy projects located on the public lands with a generation capacity of at least 10,000 megawatts of electricity.”¹ This stipulation has incentivized solar development on public lands in California by requiring the Department Of Interior (DOI) to meet this quota. However, one setback is that the law does not mandate which agency is responsible for fulfilling the renewable energy requirement or which technology should be used. A BLM employee stated, “We have a national goal of 10,000 MW, but where are they coming from? From BLM? From Forest Service? Which agency is responsible for responding to those goals? Which portion does each of us play in those goals? We have 260 million acres in the West. Does that mean we should bear the burden of all that when our lands are used by so many other people?”²

2008 BLM Energy and Mineral Policy

In 2008, the BLM revised their Energy and Mineral Policy to provide principles to guide BLM management of energy and mineral resources on public lands. The new policy stipulates that land use plans must incorporate and consider energy assessments and potential on public lands, including renewable energy.³ The policy also endorses that BLM “actively encourages private industry development of public land energy and mineral resources.”⁴ This policy has incentivized solar development in California by changing the agency outlook on renewable energy and making it more acceptable for the agency to approve permits for solar development.

Obama Administration Policy

The Obama Administration and the Secretary of the Interior have chosen renewable energy development to be a top priority. The Administration has set a goal of generating 25 percent of the Nation’s energy from renewable sources by 2025.⁵ To realize this goal, Secretary Salazar introduced the “New Energy Frontier” in DOI’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget. This program allocated $16.1 million for the BLM to support four Renewable Energy Coordination Offices, including one in California, to expedite authorization of renewable energy projects on public lands.⁶ Secretarial Order 3285 was also issued in 2009 by Secretary Salazar to create an Energy and Climate Change Task Force to develop a strategy to increase development and transmission of renewable energy on public lands.⁷ Secretary Salazar has declared an additional DOI goal to increase approved capacity of renewable energy sources on DOI lands by at least 9,000 MW by 2011.⁸ Both the administration and departmental goals have incentivized solar development in California on public lands by providing set targets with deadlines and infrastructure to BLM employees in processing applications.

California Land Conservation Act of 1965 (The Williamson Act)

The California Land Conservation Act of 1965, commonly referred to as the Williamson Act, is a state law that enables local governments in California to enter into contracts with private landowners to preserve private land as agricultural land or other related open space.⁹ In return for limiting development on their land, landowners receive lower property tax assessments. Contracts must be no shorter than 10 years, and they automatically extend each year beyond the end of the contract unless a notice of cancellation or nonrenewal is given.¹⁰ The act is a disincentive for utility-scale solar development on private lands in the state, as the approximately 16 million acres of lands protected under the act cannot be sold or leased for development while under contract.¹¹

California Desert Protection Act of 2010

Senator Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced the proposed California Desert Protection Act of 2010, S. 2921, in December 2009. If enacted, the act would alter solar development in the California desert through new restrictive land designations and changes to the renewable energy permitting process. Approximately 1.2 million acres of land would be closed to solar energy development through two national monument designations, one special management area designation, and land transfers to the National Park Service. Even though the bill has not been enacted, its announcement has already caused developers of proposed facilities within the proposed national monument boundaries to postpone or abandon their plans.¹²

1 Department of Interior. 2005. Public Law 109–58 - Energy Policy Act of 2005. Retrieved 26 May 2009. <http://www.doi.gov/iepa/EnergyPolicyActof2005.pdf>