The new land development rules finalized by the U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management creates a new leasing program on public lands and encourages development in areas where it would have fewer effects on the environment.
The Interior Department said the rule would encourage renewable energy on the nation's vast swaths of public lands while generating millions of dollars in revenue.
"We are facilitating responsible renewable energy development in the right places, creating jobs and cutting carbon pollution for the benefit of all Americans," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in a written statement.
Environmental groups hailed the rule, saying it will protect natural resources while also encouraging the development of renewable energy.
But the victory for advocates for renewable energy may be short-lived. President-elect Donald Trump -- no friend of renewable energy and a climate-change skeptic -- could dramatically revise the rule or even toss it out once he takes office in January.
The rule formalizes key aspects of the BLM’s existing Smart from the Start approach to renewable energy development. Notably, the rule:
The rule complements the Department’s landscape-scale planning efforts, including the Western Solar Plan, California’s Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, and Arizona’s Restoration Design Energy Project, which was designed to streamline development in areas with high generation potential, while protecting important environmental, cultural and recreational resources.
“By offering incentives for development in areas with fewer resource conflicts, the BLM’s rule provides a framework to support all of the landscape-scale planning we’ve done to better plan for and manage wind and solar development,” said Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Janice Schneider.
“The rule also refines the BLM’s approach to fair market value, to ensure that taxpayers get a fair return from these important resources,” Schneider said.
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