1. ENERGY DEVELOPMENT:
Feds set to release plan to simplify, expedite proposals for geothermal plants

A geothermal plant operated by Sandia National Laboratory. Photo courtesy of Sandia National Laboratory.

The federal government is set to release its first draft of a far-reaching study that will identify millions of acres of public lands in 11 Western states and Alaska where energy companies can build geothermal energy plants. The draft is expected to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow.

The draft programmatic environmental impact statement, or PEIS, will pinpoint for the first time sites across 192 million acres of public lands from the Mojave Desert to the Rocky Mountains where leases for geothermal activity are suitable. While national parks, including Yellowstone in Montana, remain off-limits, applicants in the approved areas can be granted leases without undergoing the years-long environmental regulatory review process that government officials and industry leaders say has hampered development of the country's geothermal energy resources.

The impact statement has a dual purpose. On the one hand, it is intended to identify potential repercussions to habitat and air and water quality and recommend steps to mitigate damage. On the other, it is meant to streamline the environmental regulatory process for leasing public lands so that the more than 100 pending geothermal applications for development on public land can move forward, according to federal officials. Go to story #1