Sec. 4. Land use planning; supplements to programmatic environmental impact statements
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The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall establish priority areas on covered land for geothermal, solar, and wind energy projects. For geothermal energy, the Secretary shall establish priority areas as soon as practicable, but not later than 5 years, after the date of enactment of this Act. For solar energy, the solar energy zones established by the 2012 western solar plan of the Bureau of Land Management and any subsequent land use plan amendments shall be considered to be priority areas for solar energy projects.
For wind energy, the Secretary shall establish priority areas as soon as practicable, but not later than 3 years, after the date of enactment of this Act. To the maximum extent practicable, variance areas shall be considered for renewable energy project development, consistent with the principles of multiple use (as defined in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ( 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)). Not less frequently than once every 10 years, the Secretary shall— review the adequacy of land allocations for geothermal, solar, and wind energy priority and variance areas for the purpose of encouraging new renewable energy development opportunities; and based on the review carried out under paragraph (1), add, modify, or eliminate priority, variance, and exclusion areas.
For purposes of this section, compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be accomplished— for geothermal energy, by supplementing the October 2008 final programmatic environmental impact statement for geothermal leasing in the western United States and incorporating any additional regional analyses that have been completed by Federal agencies since the programmatic environmental impact statement was finalized; for solar energy, by supplementing the July 2012 final programmatic environmental impact statement for solar energy projects and incorporating any additional regional analyses that have been completed by Federal agencies since the programmatic environmental impact statement was finalized; and for wind energy, by supplementing the July 2005 final programmatic environmental impact statement for wind energy projects and incorporating any additional regional analyses that have been completed by Federal agencies since the programmatic environmental impact statement was finalized.
A requirement to prepare a supplement to a programmatic environmental impact statement under this section shall not result in any delay in processing an application for a renewable energy project. In developing a supplement required by this section, the Secretary shall coordinate, on an ongoing basis, with appropriate State, tribal, and local governments, transmission infrastructure owners and operators, developers, and other appropriate entities to ensure that priority areas identified by the Secretary are— economically viable (including having access to transmission); likely to avoid or minimize conflict with habitat for animals and plants, recreation, and other uses of covered land; and consistent with section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ( 43 U.S.C. 1712 ), including subsection (c)(9) of that section ( 43 U.S.C. 1712(c)(9) ).
In carrying out subsections
(a)through (e), if the Secretary determines an area previously suited for development should be removed from priority or variance classification, not later than 90 days after the date of the determination, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the determination.
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Sec. 4
Land use planning; supplements to programmatic environmental impact statements
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