October 23rd, 2008 · No Comments

Kempthorne cited strong interest from states, local communities, industry and environmental groups in developing the plan.

“This process has benefited greatly from the involvement of both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, and from the clear direction Congress gave in the 2005 Energy Policy Act,” Kempthorne said. “It’s really a model for working together to make decisions about our energy future.”

Geothermal leasing revenues and royalties are shared with the states and counties where the leases are located, with 50 percent going to the state; 25 percent to the county and the remaining 25 percent to the Geothermal Royalty Fund of the Bureau of Land Management for investing in further geothermal planning and development.

Under Interior’s plan, future geothermal leasing will be subject to all existing laws, regulations and orders, as well as stipulations and terms and conditions. To protect special resource values, the plan identifies a comprehensive list of stipulations, conditions of approval and best management practices required for approval of future leases.

Lands withdrawn from or administratively closed to geothermal leasing will remain so. For example, lands within a unit of the National Park System, such as Yellowstone National Park, will continue to be unavailable for leasing. The PEIS also excludes wilderness areas and wilderness study areas from analysis. It will allow discretionary closure of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern where the BLM determines that this is appropriate. The BLM also may close to geothermal development units of the National Landscape Conservation System.

In addition to laying the foundation for environmental analysis of future geothermal leasing, the plan also provides site-specific environmental analysis of 19 pending geothermal lease applications in seven geographic locations. These leases were filed before Jan. 1, 2005 for specific lands in Alaska, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington managed by the U.S. Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management.

The governors of the 12 states in the plan’s project area will each have the opportunity to review the final document to ensure consistency with state plans, programs, and policies. The Bureau of Land Management will wait until the end of the governor’s review period before signing and issuing approval for the projects.

A total of 29 geothermal power plants currently operate on Bureau of land Management lands in California, Nevada and Utah, with a total generating capacity of 1,250 megawatts – enough to supply the needs of 1.2 million homes.

Elsewhere, Raser Technologies, Inc. announced that it will hold a ceremony to mark the completion of the first commercial geothermal power plant to be built in Utah in more than 20 years. Raser previously announced the discovery of one of the largest geothermal resources in the nation in the past 25 years.

The company said its Thermo power plant in Beaver County may contain enough geothermal resources to power a third of the homes in Utah with zero emissions when fully developed.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

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