Bureau of Land Management
Solar Energy Permitting and Program Resources
As directed in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a Final PEIS in 2008 that evaluated issues associated with the designation of energy corridors on federal lands in eleven Western states. The PEIS identified potential corridors; evaluated effects of potential future development within designated corridors; identified mitigation measures for such effects; and developed Interagency Operating Procedures (IOPs) applicable to planning, construction, operation, and decommissioning of future projects within the corridors. In response to a 2009 Settlement, the BLM and USFS have conducted regional reviews to identify potential revisions, deletions, or additions to the corridors and identify possible changes to the IOPs. One of the siting principles from the Settlement Agreement directs the agencies to consider whether corridors provide connectivity to renewable energy generation. Proximity of renewable energy generation to the transmission grid is an important consideration for applicants considering future solar energy development. Information on the Section 368 energy corridors and regional reviews can be found at the West-wide Energy Corridor Information Center.
The Section 368 Energy Corridor Mapping Tool is an online mapping tool that allows users to overlay designated Section 368 energy corridors with other natural, social, and cultural resource data.
The BLM has also developed the Landscape Approach Data Portal, a publicly available online mapping tool that provides geospatial data, maps, models and reports produced by BLM's landscape initiative. The portal provides the BLM Rights-of-Way and Section 368 Corridors Tool that includes geospatial information on Section 368 Corridors similar to that provided by the Corridor Mapping Tool. The ROW Planning tool also allows users to add their own layers to the tool during use to allow greater flexibility for users to view Section 368 energy corridors and their proximity to resources not hosted on the BLM website.