Sec. 3. 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 Secretary shall establish additional priority areas as soon as practicable, but not later than 3 years, after the date of enactment of this Act.
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 section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ( 43 U.S.C. 1702 )). Not less frequently than once every 5 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, including by incorporating any additional regional analyses that were completed by Federal agencies after the date on which the programmatic environmental impact statement was finalized; for solar energy, by supplementing the July 2012 final programmatic environmental impact statement for the Solar Energy Program of the Bureau of Land Management, including by incorporating any additional regional analyses that were completed by Federal agencies after the date on which the programmatic environmental impact statement was finalized; and for wind energy, by supplementing the July 2005 final programmatic environmental impact statement for wind energy development, including by incorporating any additional regional analyses that were completed by Federal agencies after the date on which 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 existing or planned transmission capacity); likely to avoid or minimize conflict with habitat for animals and plants, recreation, cultural resources, 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) ).
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Sec. 3
Land use planning; supplements to programmatic environmental impact statements
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