BLM Tells California and Utah Governors to Pound Sand
Published Date: 1/15/2025
Notice
Summary
The BLM Director said no to changes suggested by California and Utah’s governors about the updated Western Solar Plan, which guides big solar energy projects on public lands. This means solar development will move forward as planned, affecting several Western states and helping speed up clean energy without extra delays or costs. The decision keeps the plan on track to support utility-scale solar growth across the region.
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Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Updated Western Solar Plan remains unchanged
The BLM Principal Deputy Director rejected the Governors of California and Utah appeals and determined no changes to the Proposed Updated Western Solar Plan are necessary. The appeal responses were issued December 19, 2024, and the Proposed RMPAs apply across the planning area covering Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Endangered Species habitat exclusion stays
The BLM kept the exclusion for habitat for species protected under the Endangered Species Act in some areas of southern Nevada and relied on programmatic consultations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. The BLM determined eliminating that habitat exclusion would not provide a reasonable balance between the national interest and the State's interest.
Utah: 5 million acres identified available
The proposed updated Western Solar Plan identifies over 5,000,000 acres in Utah as available for future solar projects, while the reasonably foreseeable development scenario (RFDS) estimates slightly less than 40,000 acres of development in Utah by 2045. The BLM declined to limit available acreage to match the RFDS.
Geothermal leases take priority over solar ROWs
Where a current geothermal lease already exists, the BLM will not issue a solar right-of-way that would interfere with the geothermal lessee's use of the public lands consistent with the lease's terms and conditions. If solar is proposed where geothermal potential exists but no current ROW exists, BLM will assess the best use of the land during project review.
Grazing permits protected from AUM reductions
The proposed updated Western Solar Plan would not approve any solar project or result in the reduction of authorized unit months (AUM) associated with public land livestock grazing permits or leases in Utah. Future solar ROWs within grazing allotments would be subject to project-specific review and must comply with grazing regulations and design features such as LG-1 to minimize conflicts.
Pending solar applications partly protected during transition
The Proposed RMPAs include provisions designed to reduce disruption during the transition between plans by limiting the effect of the proposed RMPAs on some pending applications, which affects projects already under construction or where applications are under BLM review.
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