Federal Laws

Federal laws have helped facilitate renewable energy development on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Federal laws also govern and regulate that development.

Laws issued beginning in 2001 have established requirements for the BLM and/or the Department of Energy related to renewable energy development. They provide the drivers for specific actions taken by these agencies to facilitate solar energy development and include the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and the Energy Act of 2020.

As the BLM responds to the laws and orders that encourage renewable energy development, the agency also has an affirmative responsibility to comply with a wide array of Federal laws that affect development on public lands. Among these are laws that:

• Provide for protection of endangered species and their habitat (Endangered Species Act ),
• Protect significant cultural and historic resources and require consultation with tribes (National Historic Preservation Act), and
• Require the identification of the environmental, socioeconomic, and other effects of proposed actions and alternative actions (National Environmental Policy Act).

Compliance with these laws is an ongoing responsibility for the BLM.