On October 22, 2024, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published a notice in the Federal Register creating a new categorical exclusion (CE) for geothermal projects on federal lands. A CE is the least burdensome form of project review required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
BLM is proposing the new CE to facilitate the permitting of operations plans for lessees to drill and test resource wells and expedite renewable energy development on public lands. Geothermal resource confirmation drilling usually includes at least three wells drilled into the resource to evaluate the commercial viability of the resource and to determine the extent of the resource by demonstrating communication between wells. These operations currently require environmental assessments under NEPA, which take much longer than CEs even though the environmental effects of such projects are minimal. The new CE would reduce the time required for reviewing projects with little or no environmental impacts.
Comments on the proposed rule are due November 21, 2024.
Read the notice and submit comments.
Advocacy contact: Send an email to Shanerika Flemings at shanerika.flemings@sba.gov.