Over 40 percent of the lands in Malheur County have been designated as core habitat for sage grouse by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife ("ODFW"). Other counties in southeastern Oregon are also heavily affected. ODFW’s approach was to simply recommend against any development in core habitat, without consideration whether off-site mitigation could result
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Solar Panels Proposed as Hazardous Waste under DTSC
My colleagues Wayne Rosenbaum and Ryan Waterman authored, "DTSC Rulemaking Proposes to Classify All Discarded Solar Panels As Hazardous Waste" today on our California Environmental Law blog.
On June 27, California’s Department of Toxic Substance Control (“DTSC”) announced a 15 day comment period on new regulations concerning the disposal of photovoltaic (PV)…
Army Announces Forthcoming RFP for Biomass Energy
From my colleague Chad Marriott, who is attending the RETECH 2012 Conference in Washington, DC:
Today at ACORE’s RETECH 2012 conference in Washington, D.C., John Lushetsky, Executive Director of the U.S. Army Energy Initiatives Task Force ("EITF") announced that the Army expects to issue a request for proposals within the next 90 days for …
U.S. Department of Interior Moves to Streamline Solar Development in the West
As my colleagues Kristen Castaños and Melissa Foster posted on the Stoel Rives California Environmental Law Blog, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced today that it will publish the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (“Solar PEIS”) for solar energy development in six southwestern states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The Solar PEIS is a major step forward in the permitting of utility-scale solar energy on public lands in the West.
The Solar PEIS will establish solar energy zones with access to existing or planned transmission and with the fewest resource conflicts and provide incentives for development within those zones. The roadmap set forth in the Solar PEIS will make for faster, more streamlined permitting of large-scale solar projects on these public lands. The focus of the Solar PEIS is on Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) lands that are most suitable for solar energy development. It identifies 17 Solar Energy Zones (“SEZs”), totaling about 285,000 acres of public lands, as priority areas for utility-scale solar development. The Solar PEIS also notes the potential for additional zones through ongoing and future regional planning processes and allows for utility-scale solar development on approximately 19 million acres in variance areas lying outside of identified SEZs.Continue Reading U.S. Department of Interior Moves to Streamline Solar Development in the West
Don’t Miss! Mission Critical: Clean Energy and the U.S. Military
Please join Stoel Rives partner, David Benson, host of "Mission Critical: Clean Energy and the U.S. Military," on March 15, 2012 in Seattle, WA. A new and formidable leader has emerged in the push for clean energy. The U.S. Department of Defense is setting aggressive objectives to reduce its fossil fuel dependence and invest …
New Temporary BETC Rules Issued by ODOE
The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) has issued new temporary BETC rules. The purpose of these rules, according to ODOE, is to clarify how the Section 1603 Grant will be deducted from BETC project costs. In an apparent reversal of ODOE’s recent position during the Tier Two and Tier Three application phases, the temporary rules…
Energy Tax Law Alert: ODOE Issues Final Administrative Rules
On November 24, 2010, the Oregon Department of Energy (“ODOE”) issued final permanent administrative rules (the “Permanent Rules”) relating to the Business Energy Tax Credit (“BETC”). For a description of the BETC generally, see our previous alerts on November 5, 2009, February 27, 2008, and July 2, 2007.
The Permanent Rules finalize…
ODOE Issues Permanent Biomass Producer/Collector Tax Credit Rules
Yesterday, the Oregon Department of Energy issued is final administrative rules for the biomass producer /collector tax credit. The new permanent rules can be viewed at the following link: http://oregon.gov/ENERGY/RENEW/Biomass/docs/BPC_PermRules.pdf/oregon.gov/ENERGY/RENEW/Biomass/docs/BPC_PermRules.pdf
ODOE Announces Funding for Small Renewable Projects Gone
Earlier this year, the Oregon Department of Energy (“ODOE”) allocated $10 million in tax credits for renewable energy projects with costs of less than $500,000 (“Tier One Projects”). On Wednesday, October 13, ODOE announced that it will no longer accept applications for Tier One Projects because as of October 11 ODOE had received applications for…
Upcoming BETC Deadline–July 30, 2010
Pursuant to recently issued temporary regulations, the Oregon Department of Energy has imposed a July 30, 2010 deadline for projects seeking a BETC that have projected facility costs of $6 million or greater. See the link below for specific details.