NSTAR News
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
U.S. opens deserts to large-scale solar projects on fast track program
A new program has been established by the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar to overcome the often lengthy (more than two years) and not always successful applications to use public land in desert regions, which include Nevada, Arizona, and parts of California. Key aspects of the program include ‘prime zones,’ new permitting offices to speed up permitting and the funding of environmental studies in the designated areas.
mportantly, the 158 active solar applications, which the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has received, which equates to 97GW and covering 1.8 million acres, will not need to reapply. The BLM will now begin site-specific environmental reviews for two major projects in Nevada that would have a combine capacity of more than 400MW.