IRWA 2014 Federal Agency Update

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Energy Corridors Update

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

www.blm.govManage more land than any other agency

o 245 million surface acreso 700 million subsurface acres

12 State Offices with 90 field offices

Washington Office (DC)National Operations Center (Denver)National Interagency Fire Center (Boise)National Training Center (Phoenix)

BLM’s Multiple Use Mission• Manage for “multiple use and

sustained yield”

• Administer over 107,000 rights-of-way

• Administer lands via land use plans (LUPs) or resource management plans (RMPs)

• Designate corridors in LUPs; Corridors are preferred locations for large linear infrastructure projects

Energy Corridors on Federal Lands

Section 368 of Energy Policy Act of 2005 (PL 109-58) directs Secretaries of Interior, Agriculture, Defense, Commerce, Energy to designate corridors in 11 western states

Agencies prepare Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 2006-2008 • BLM Record of Decision (ROD) January 2009

designates 5,000 miles of corridors (119 total corridors); amends 92 LUPs

• USFS ROD January 2009 designates 990 miles of corridors; amends 38 LUPs

Section 368 Energy Corridors

Energy Corridor LitigationBLM, Forest Service (USFS), Dept of Energy (DOE) sued in 2009• July 2013 case dismissed and Settlement

approved

83 of 119 BLM corridors have no concerns identified by Plaintiffs

Plaintiffs identify 45 Corridors of Concern (COC)• Concerns identified primarily with portions of

corridors• Siting projects within COCs may involve:

o additional litigationo increased mitigationo significant environmental impactso consideration of alternative siting options

Plaintiffs Corridors of Concern

Section 368 Energy Corridors

Settlement Deliverables (subject to available funds)• BLM/USFS/DOE conduct Corridor Study by July 2014

• BLM to issue corridor policy April 2014

Stakeholders will be engaged in: • Regional reviews of corridors to develop recommended

new, deleted or modified corridors

• Review Interagency Operating Procedures (IOPs); agencies to capture changes in updated guidance

Energy Corridor Litigation continued

BLM/USFS/DOE to publish Request for Information (RFI) late March 2014 with 60 day comment period• Solicit feedback on data sources to support corridor study• Solicit feedback on public venues for coordination (e.g

Resource Advisory Council meetings)• Seek feedback on Interagency Operating Procedures

(IOPs)

Stakeholders (including the public) will be engaged in: • Processing land use plan (LUP) amendments that consider

workgroup recommendationso Las Vegas Draft Resource Management Plan anticipated

release June/July 2014o Other plans ongoing or upcoming

BLM/USFS/DOE seek your feedback and participation:Steve Fusilier; sfusilie@blm.govReginal Woodruff; rwoodruff@fs.fed.usLamont Jackson; Lamont.Jackson@hq.doe.gov

Corridor Info:www.blm.gov/so/st/en/prog/energy/transmission.html

http://corridoreis.anl.gov/

Lucas Lucero, Senior Advisor202-912-7342llucero@blm.gov