Bureau of Land Management
Solar Energy Permitting and Program Resources
On March 4, 2024, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Cedar City Field Office initiated a 30-day scoping comment period to gather public input on the Star Range Solar Development Project, a proposed solar energy project that would span approximately 4,288 acres in Beaver County, Utah. The project could potentially generate an estimated 600 megawatts of renewable electricity.
Public input gathered during the scoping period will guide the BLM in assessing the environmental implications and potential impacts of the proposed Star Range Solar Development Project. It is an opportunity for the public, stakeholders, and other interested parties to contribute to the early stages of the project's environmental review.
The BLM press release provides additional information on the public scoping period. To view project documents, including the draft Plan of Development, and to submit public scoping comments, visit the Star Range Solar Development Project page of the BLM National NEPA Register (ePlanning). The public scoping period will remain open until April 3, 2024.
The Bureau of Land Management has begun processing the right-of-way application for the Star Range Solar Project submitted by 174 Power Global, owned by Hanwha Energy Corporation. The project is planned to span about 4,288 acres in Beaver County, Utah, and could generate an estimated 600 megawatts of electricity.
The project proposal falls within a variance area identified by the 2012 Western Solar Plan Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. The variance process requires BLM and applicants to evaluate potential impacts to sensitive resources in the area and discuss issues like site locations, environmental effects and other concerns with appropriate agencies, Tribes and the public. The variance process verified that the project would be in an area appropriate for solar energy development.
The completion of the variance process does not approve the project but allows the continued processing of the application and initiation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. The NEPA process will include public scoping and the preparation of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement where BLM will again request public input. The NEPA analysis will provide the basis for any future decisions regarding the project.
Additional project background information is available on the 2023 Utah Solar Variance Project-Star Range page of the BLM National NEPA Register.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Cedar City Field Office is awarding leases to Minersville Solar Energy, LLC to build solar energy facilities on three parcels encompassing more than 4,800 acres of BLM-managed public lands in the Milford Flats South Solar Energy Zone (SEZ), a Designated Leasing Area located in Beaver County, Utah, west of Minersville. If fully developed, the planned solar energy facilities would generate more than 600 megawatts of electricity.
In September 2021, the Notice of Competitive Offer published in the Federal Register began a 60-day sealed bidding period to lease the three parcels. The BLM received Minersville Solar Energy LLC's winning bid of $164,444 during the competitive process, which is BLM Utah's first competitive bid solar lease sale. BLM Utah's Cedar City Field Office received all the necessary funds for the three A, B, and C parcels.
Parcel maps and additional information on the leases can be found on BLM's Milford Flats South SEZ Competitive Leasing project website. The BLM Press Release also provides more information.
On September 10, 2021, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published a Notice of Competitive Offer in the Federal Register that officially began a 60-day sealed bidding period to lease three parcels of land totalling approximately 4,836 acres in the Milford Flats South Solar Energy Zone (SEZ), which is a designated leasing area (DLA) located in Beaver County, Utah.
If the parcels being offered are leased and fully developed, the area has an estimated potential for projects that could generate over 600 megawatts of electricity.
Bidders may submit sealed bid packages to the BLM Cedar City Field Office for each of the three parcels within the designated Milford Flat South SEZ. The BLM will use bids received by 10 a.m. MST on Nov. 9, 2021, to conduct the lease offer.
An Invitation for Bids and Bidding Instructions, a map of the parcels, and additional project information are available on BLM's Milford Flats South SEZ Competitive Leasing project website.
For more information, please contact Brooklynn Cox at (435) 865-3073.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Cedar City Field Office has published a News Release (PDF, 89 KB) announcing the public comment period on a draft environmental assessment for proposed parcels within the Milford Flats South Solar Energy Zone (SEZ) in Beaver County, Utah. The draft environmental assessment analyzes the environmental consequences of competitively leasing four parcels of public lands, comprising approximately 5,564 acres, for solar energy development. The Environmental Assessment document and other project information such as maps and proposed lease stipulations can be reviewed at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/97506/510.
A public meeting will be hosted by the BLM Cedar City Field Office to answer questions related to the draft environmental assessment for proposed parcels within the Milford Flats South SEZ. The meeting will be held at the Minersville School, located at 450 S. 200 W. in Minersville, UT on Thursday, May 3, from 6 to 7 p.m., MST.
The public review and comment period closes at midnight Sunday, May 20, 2018. Comments are most useful when they identify issues relevant to the proposed action or contain new technical or scientific information. Comments that contain only opinions or preferences will not receive a formal response, but may be considered in the BLM decision-making process.
Comments can be submitted through the project website, or mailed to the BLM Cedar City Field Office, 176 E. DL Sargent Drive, Cedar City, UT 84721 (include “Cedar City Field Office 2018 Solar Lease Sale” in the subject line).
For more information, please contact Michelle Campeau (435) 865-3047 (Cedar City Field Office) or Brandon Johnson at (801) 539-4105 (Utah State Office – Salt Lake City).
Thank you for your participation in the Utah SRMS project. Currently, issuance of the Draft SRMS document is on hold pending further notice. When a determination on next steps for the project has been made, project stakeholders will be notified by email, and an announcement will be posted on the project website.