The Bureau of Land Management Pahrump Field Office announced in a press release the two-year segregation of the application area for the proposed Copper Rays Solar Project from appropriation under the public land laws “to facilitate consideration of development of renewable energy resources.”
The Copper Rays Solar Project proposes the use of 5,518.18 acres of public lands that are currently managed by the BLM. The lands are located in the Pahrump Valley along the State Route 160 corridor, southeast of Pahrump.
An initial prioritization assessment of the project demonstrated that the potential for resource conflicts is low, thus establishing the application as a high priority for processing, according to the press release.
The BLM’s authority to implement a segregation for lands included in right-of-way applications proposing generation of renewable energy is established in agency regulations at 43 CFR 2091.3-1(e) and 43 CFR 2804.25(f).
“The BLM actively supports the Department of the Interior’s priority of developing 25GW of renewable energy on public lands by 2025,” said Nicholas Pay, Field Manager of the Pahrump Field Office. “The segregation will ensure that the evaluation and potential development of the renewable energy proposal is not hindered by incompatible land use proposals or filings during the application review process.”
This Notice of Segregation will segregate the identified lands for two years from appropriation under the public land laws, including location under the Mining Law, but not the Mineral Leasing Act or the Materials Act, subject to valid existing rights, according to the release from the BLM.
The segregation for the lands identified in the notice is effective Oct. 21, 2021, according to the documents.
The termination of segregation would occur at the earliest of the following dates: upon issuance of a decision by the authorized officer granting, granting with modifications, or denying the application for a right of way; without further administrative action at the end of the segregation provided for in the Federal Register notice initiating the segregation; or upon publication of a Federal Register notice terminating the segregation, the release said.