On July 17, the Dept. of the Interior announced Sec. Doug Burgum would begin an “elevated review” process for solar and wind projects on federal lands. The announcement comes in response to President Trump’s Executive Order 14315, which required DOI to examine their reviews of solar and wind projects. The DOI, via the Bureau of Land Management, approves wind and solar projects on public lands.
DOI said Department-related decisions and actions concerning wind and solar energy facilities will now undergo elevated review by the Office of the Secretary, including leases, rights-of-way, construction and operation plans, grants, consultations and biological opinions. DOI said it will address provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to “eliminate longstanding right-of-way and capacity fee discounts for existing and future wind and solar projects.”
“Today’s announcement by the Department of the Interior amounts to a tsunami of red tape and roadblocks for private investment in wind and solar energy projects,” said Ray Long, President and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), in a press statement. “Requiring Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s personal approval on at least 69 distinct permitting actions — from site leasing to rights of way applications — on potentially hundreds of projects represents an unnecessary and inefficient approach to permitting that will lead to significant delays and uncertainty. It stands in direct conflict with the Secretary’s stated goals as chair of the National Energy Dominance Council: to increase domestic energy production and streamline development.”
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