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Written by Wild Nevada
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Friday, 31 December 2010 11:11 |
Ok – This is getting pretty wonky, but we still think it’s important. Today is the last of three blogs explaining how the Nevada Wilderness Project is addressing proposed renewable energy development on our public lands. It’s a big issue, one that has taken many conservationists by surprise over the last 18 months, but we here at NWP feel we have a solid approach and path for achieving the best possible results: “smart from the start” renewable projects that allow us to reap the benefits of renewable energy and find innovative ways to accomplish habitat conservation at the same time. We think the SWIP transmission line—and the build-out of renewable projects along that line—offers us real opportunity.
So here is Part 3.
What is our vision for a smooth and effective implementation of a “smart from the start” approach to development along the SWIP line?
Our vision of a smooth and effective implementation of a “smart from the start” approach to development along the SWIP line is this: Maximize energy production with the least amount acreage possible on the lands with the least ecological and cultural value. Protect areas of better quality habitat in the region. Use innovative royalty programs that provide revenue from the renewable energy generated for sensitive land acquisition, management and restoration.
The Southwest Intertie Project (SWIP) differs from the other “fast track” projects we’ve been engaged with in 2010 because planning and public scoping for it started in 1994. Yes, 1994, as in 17 years ago. (When Celine Dion, Boyz II Men, and Mariah Carey had songs topping the charts--don’t TELL us time doesn’t heal all wounds!)
While 16 years is about the standard length of time it takes to plan, permit and build a transmission line in America, it isn’t fast. So what makes the SWIP line a fast track project? Well, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (you know, ARRA, the legislation that pumped billions of dollars into creating jobs, but that critics say didn’t work?) helped unleash up to $300 million dollars for the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA)—a federal agency under the auspices of the Department of Energy that markets and delivers hydropower, and in the future, wind and solar along transmission lines it regulates.
This money solved a classic conundrum of renewable energy transmission: you can’t build a power line without a contract in hand from say, a solar or wind developer. The wind or solar developer can’t get financing to develop her or his generation project if they cannot demonstrate the transmission capacity to get the energy to market.
So, for NWP, the story of the SWIP line isn’t just the path of that line. It is about the cumulative impacts of all of the feeder projects that will populate the line. These sites, along with the smaller transmission lines that will plug into the 500kv SWIP line, are where we must engage early with developers. We’ll draw bright lines around areas we think are suitable and we’ll look to stop in their tracks projects that damage the best habitats.
For examples of smart from the start along the SWIP corridor, read about our SWIP reroute, solar royalty legislation introduced by Senator Reid and Congressman Heller, and an example of a national conservation area in southernmost sage grouse habitat.
And we’ll continue, as always, to update you on our progress. And we always welcome your ideas, input and criticism.
 
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Thursday, 30 December 2010 10:01 |
Yesterday’s post was about the Nevada Wilderness Project’s 2010 engagement with renewable energy on our public lands, particularly those “fast-tracked” by the BLM. A big part of this has to do with our participation in the NEPA process - the National Environemental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision making processes by considering the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions. The NEPA act was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970 - the same year he invited Elvis to visit him in the White House.
Today is Part 2.
What have we learned about these proposed projects, what information do we still need, and how are we going to get it?
Our initial “catch-up” at the beginning of 2010 to gather data about these proposed projects and present it on our website was solid. In the coming year, we will transition from being reactive (responding to issues with projects already permitted, well into the NEPA process, and with considerable financial investments already made by the developers) to a proactive position (able to make recommendations about appropriate siting, establish positive relationships with developers before projects are begun, attach state and federal legislative actions for habitat conservation to development)
This is exciting stuff, but how are we going to do this?
The SWIP corridor - or Southwest Intertie Project Transmission Line, or ON Line Project, as it is also called--provides the best opportunity for NWP to make this transition to “proactive” and set an example for the BLM and other organizations working on these issues to do the same. Our on-the-ground exploration of the corridor through last spring’s SWIP Trip resulted in an understanding of the cumulative impacts future development will have on habitat and cultural resources. This allows us to weigh in with authority on future development. Specifically:
- By using existing data, NWP staff will conduct biological and cultural resource assessments of the corridor, beginning with the southern terminus, to identify and map species concentrations, cultural resources, and appropriate and inappropriate places for development.
- Our staff will attend meetings selectively, choosing to participate in those where we can influence changes in the BLM’s over-all approach to choosing which projects go forward. We will lead most effectively, however, by setting our example along the SWIP line and making a case for why the BLM should take a similar approach in the rest of the state.
Since the 11 initial proposed projects, one more “fast-track” project was added in Nevada and we incorporated that project onto our website. In addition, we know that “second-generation” projects will come online as the “fast track” projects are completed or abandoned; these projects remain undisclosed to the public. We need information about proposed projects on public lands as soon as possible.
How are we going to get this information?
Relying on the leg-work of Renewable Energy Coordinator Greg Seymour, who joined NWP in May, we will strive to identify proposed projects while they are in their initial testing phases (for how suitable they are for the type of energy production being proposed) and contact developers early. The goal will be to begin our engagement at the very earliest part of the planning process, not well after the BLM has the NEPA process underway and developers have committed advanced financial resources.
We need to provide accurate and intelligent information to the public on our website about the various stages these projects go through: siting, permitting, and other stages throughout the NEPA process. Even though the NEPA process is complex, with many different possible applications and outcomes for each type of renewable energy proposed, it is the best way to inform ourselves and our supporters about how to be involved and influential in the project outcomes.
How are we going to do this?
We will continue to chart critical components of the NEPA process for ourselves – then translate it to our website and to the public using fresh ideas for presentation and education. The goal is to track key milestones in a project’s NEPA process and most important, mark the best opportunities for the public to weigh in on them with a sensitivity to habitat conservation and “smart from the start” concepts.
To assist federal agencies overseeing renewable projects, many national organizations (Natural Reseources Defense Council, The Wilderness Society and others) have written and continue to develop good policy about siting renewable energy development on public lands in the West.
How does NWP’s work fit into the national policy picture?
NWP does not have the capacity—nor is there a need—to reinvent the policy wheel. Rather, NWP is taking the best of these ideas and combining them with our “smart from the start” process, resulting in a proactive, results-oriented approach to energy siting in Nevada.
NWP will fill a gap in the game, which is to manage existing policy information from other sources, use it to regularly refine our “smart from the start” concept, and apply it to real projects on the ground. For example, in June NWP biologists worked with BLM employees and the developers of the SWIP line to re-route the line in three places to better avoid sage-grouse “leks,” or breeding grounds. NWP will continue to look for these kinds of collaborative opportunities.
Up for tomorrow: Part 3. What is our vision for a smooth and effective implementation of a “smart from the start” approach to development along the SWIP line?
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Monday, 27 December 2010 18:26 |
In 2010, conservationists throughout the West found themselves in new and unfamiliar terrain when asked to evaluate proposals for large solar, wind and geothermal energy developments to be built on public lands. How is it possible to be a good habitat conservationist and a supporter of large-scale renewable energy development? To answer this question, the Nevada Wilderness Project staff chose to focus our efforts on Nevada’s 11 BLM-proposed “fast-track” renewable energy projects. We knew we had a well-developed “smart from the start” lens through which to examine these projects, as well as an unwavering commitment to seek opportunities for additional habitat conservation. This is the first of three posts intended to tell the story of how we did last year. We tell this story because we want to continually refine our approach—and accomplish even more—in this new world of renewable energy and habitat protection. We firmly believe that we can develop renewable energy, protect wildlife habitat, and do both at the same time.
Part 1. When did NWP begin addressing “fast-track” renewable energy developments, and what did we initially learn from our engagement with these projects?
- We learned of 11 so-called “fast-track” renewable energy project proposals on public lands in Nevada from the BLM in late 2009 (1 transmission line, 2 wind, 3 solar, and 5 geothermal projects)
- NWP made maps and did initial biological assessments of these 11 areas in January, 2010.
- We organized this information on our website in February, 2010. This included a page about the BLM’s “fast-track” concept, a chart assembling that data and tracking permitting phases, and individual pages for each proposed project that included background, habitat concerns, maps and news media stories.
We worked quickly to evaluate these projects, and to assess whether or not they were what NWP calls “smart from the start” projects. This information was updated on our website. Two projects, in particular, stood out.
The first was the Spring Valley Wind Project, which NWP immediately recognized as a “dumb from the get-go” development: poorly sited next to the Swamp Cedar Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC); near a cave that is a migratory stopover for an estimated one-million Mexican free-tailed bats; in an area of high cultural importance to Native Americans; lack of cooperation from the developer; no Environmental Impact Statement.
The second stand-out project was the SWIP Transmission line. Extending 500 miles north-south through eastern Nevada, the SWIP is a long-term project primarily significant because of future developments that will be built out along this line. Transmission goes hand in hand with large-scale renewable energy developments, and NWP identified the SWIP as the best project in Nevada through which to pursue our “smart from the start” concept: the project was approved in 1994 and shovel-ready in 2010; NWP has established an excellent working relationship with the developer; we see the opportunity to be pro-active, not reactive, when influencing future development. For example, we could identify legislative possibilities for accompanying habitat conservation.
On Earth Day of 2010, we launched a two-week hike of the entire path of the SWIP. We enlisted the help of thru-hiker Adam Bradley to walk the whole thing and help generate a blog and media event to highlight transmission issues, cumulative impacts on the land, and the need for landscape level planning. On the heels of this trip, we worked with the developer toward a successful re-routing of the line in three places to better protect sage grouse leks. A documentary film crew also trailed us during the hike and has produced “Walking the Line: New Energy in the Old West.” This 26-minute film will premier Jan. 14-15 at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, CA, then show on Nevada’s PBS television stations.
Our early engagement with these projects taught us that one of NWP’s roles is to bring clarity to all the moving parts and information about these proposed projects on our public lands—and present it on the web in a way that promotes public participation for habitat conservation.
Coming next:
Part 2. What have we learned about these proposed projects, what information do we still need, and how are we going to get it?
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Tuesday, 16 November 2010 10:27 |
The eighth “fast-tracked” solar development in the West--and the second in Nevada--was approved for construction yesterday by the BLM, in time to qualify for federal stimulus dollars. The project is the Amargosa Farm Road Solar Energy Project, and approval came from the Southern Nevada District of the Bureau of Land Management who signed the Record of Decision (ROD).
The ROD gives the go-ahead to Solar Millennium, LLC to begin construction of the project, which will produce 500-megawatts of electricity from two dry-cooled solar power plants equipped with thermal energy storage capability. It is located just west of the town of Amargosa, NV on 4,350 acres of BLM-managed land. We have been monitoring this project since it began, and posting new information about it here (along with the other 11 fast-track projects in Nevada).
Throughout the permitting process, NWP and The Wilderness Society have been submitting written comments on the proposed plan, recognizing that in order to combat climate change and take dirty fossil-fueled plants offline, renewable energy will have to play a large role in our clean energy economy. NWP submits comments on these projects with the intention of improving them and lessening their impact on the land and wildlife.
“Early in the planning phase of the project, the developer and the BLM realized that a change in technology from wet to dry cooling was better suited for this site,” said Greg Seymour, NWP's Renewable Energy Coordinator. “Using appropriate technology, in this case less water-intensive in a desert environment, is essential and part of taking a “smart from the start” approach to developing renewable energy.”
Seymour said the project will be built on public lands that have no designated critical habitat for federally endangered or threatened species, and on land that is not a major migration corridor for wildlife. The project uses parabolic trough solar thermal technology, which means that after the sun sets, the plant will continue to provide power.
The Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge is seven miles southeast of the project site and not expected to be impacted by the solar development. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the Refuge, will require payments into a fund that can cover a range of off-site mitigation measures. This project will help Nevada’s utility companies to meet our Renewable Portfolio Standard of 15 percent by 2012, and by the BLM's calculations, it is enough energy to power over 150,000 homes. While no large development on public lands is without impacts, we think the benefits of this one outweigh the negative impacts to wildlife and habitat.
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Written by Wild Nevada
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Monday, 11 October 2010 10:42 |
Here's an article by Chris Thomas, Public News Service, that went out today over news channels throughout Nevada (and beyond). It's about renewable energy "fast-track" projects and thier impacts on habitat. It features Greg Seymour, Renewable Energy Coordinator for the Nevada Wilderness Project. We've added a few links for more information.
October 11, 2010
LAS VEGAS - Last week, California became the first state to get approval for solar projects to be built on federal lands, but Nevada is not far behind. Three Nevada projects are expected to be far enough along to qualify for federal stimulus funding before it runs out at the end of the year. They are Amargosa Farms in the Amargosa Valley, Crescent Dunes near Tonopah and a NextLight solar plant at Boulder City.
Greg Seymour, renewable energy program coordinator for the Nevada Wilderness Project, says his group advocates a method known as "Smart from the Start" to select the sites. The goals are to forge agreements up front to minimize environmental damage and legal challenges, and to keep Nevada looking like...Nevada.
"We're hoping to pick locations that are near communities or other industrial areas or near degraded locations, so that the really rural areas continue to be rural. They hold the historic and natural character that Nevada's famous for."
Siting solar plants closer to towns makes the power cheaper to transmit, Seymour explains, and when all sides agree on a site early in the process, it also saves time and money.
Job creation has been touted as a big benefit of renewable energy. Long before construction begins, there is already an economic impact to the state, he adds.
"Those environmental companies have hundreds of employees - biologists, archaeologists, chemists, hydrologists and so forth - who are getting paid to do this work by the developer. So that money is already circulating. Those are not federal jobs; those are private-sector jobs that are paid for with private funding."
Seymour says more than 80 solar and wind permit applications have been filed around the state. Not all will get the backing they need to become reality, but he points out that in the rush to develop them, the effects on wildlife and public lands could be substantial, without environmental sensitivity up front.
More information about the solar developments now underway is available at www.wildnevada.org and www.doi.gov.
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Monday, 27 July 2009 02:53 |
Our last post talked about plans to "fast-track" 24 solar study areas in the West - seven of which are on public lands in Nevada. (We have a map of these 7 areas on our website) The Department of Energy and the Bureau of Land Management announced a "public scoping period" regarding these solar energy study areas... meaning the people have time to consider the proposal and weigh in. The public's comments are due September 14, 2009.
NWP is working full speed to participate in this public scoping period (this can sound a little icky, if you say it wrong). It's important because broadly speaking, studying these areas for possible solar development is a good thing, provided we proceed in a way that is “smart from the start.” This means harnessing Nevada’s renewable and clean energy resources while protecting wildlife corridors and habitats, and protecting the iconic beauty and open spaces of the state. (click here to read more about “smart from the start.”)
Addressing the climate and energy crisis through renewable energy development must not exacerbate loss of habitat and biological diversity. To learn more about these areas, where they are and why they're important, visit this page. It will also tell you how to submit your comments. Please ask them to fully incorporate issues of wildlife, habitat, biological diversity, and mitigation in their study process.
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Wednesday, 08 July 2009 05:07 |
 On June 29th, Senator Reid and Interior Secretary Salazar held a press conference at UNLV, announcing a plan to fast-track 24 solar energy study areas in six western states. Seven of them are on public lands in Nevada:
Amargosa Valley (32,699 acres)
Dry Lake (16,516 acres)
Delamar Valley (17,932 acres)
Dry Lake Valley North (49,775 acres)
East Mormon Mountain (7,418 acres)
Gold Point (5,830 acres
Miller’s (19,205 acres)
These areas make sense for fast-track study to see how suitable they are for solar energy development. The real task is to make sure that whatever development does happen—on these lands or elsewhere--takes into account wildlife and the habitats they depend on. We're calling this "smart from the start" renewable energy development.
Mitigation—protecting or restoring habitats to compensate for those lost in development—must be part of renewable energy development from here on out. We need to reap the benefits of developing solar energy AND reap the benefits of even greater conservation. You can find a news release we wrote about this here. KUNR 88.7 fm, the Reno/Tahoe public radion station, and KVBC, Channel 3 in Las Vegas, both ran short stories about it... links coming soon, when we get 'em.
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