Biden administration rule would cut fees for renewable development on public lands

The Biden administration on Thursday announced a proposed new rule that would aim to speed the development of renewable energy on public lands.

The proposed rule would cut fees for solar and wind development on public lands by 80 percent, according to an announcement by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The Bureau also updated its environmental review for its plans for solar development in 11 Western states, planning to identify new areas for potential solar development, as well as lands excluded from development and those that may be suitable for development through a variance process.

The proposal is open for comment for 60 days, during which the Bureau will host three public meetings.

“The Department of the Interior takes seriously our responsibility to manage the nation’s public lands responsibly and with an eye toward the increasing impacts of the climate crisis. The power and potential of the clean energy future is an undeniable and critical part of that work,” said Laura Daniel-Davis, principal deputy assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management, in a statement. “Under President Biden and Secretary [Deb] Haaland’s leadership, this Administration is taking an all-hands-on-deck approach toward ambitious clean energy goals that will support families, boost local economies, and help increase climate resilience in communities across the West.”

The Biden administration has frequently sought to promote renewable development on public lands, initially cutting permitting fees in guidance released last year, while the proposed rule published Thursday would codify a deeper cut.

The administration in May announced it advanced two renewable energy transmission projects in Nevada, with the two projects collectively projected to generate about 8 gigawatts of renewable energy.

Plus, it announced a wider target of deploying a fully renewable electrical grid by 2035, with BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning calling the approvals a demonstration that “permitting can be done responsibly.”

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