Renewable Energy Generated or Purchased for the Bureau of Land Management's Owned Facilities
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
http://www.blm.gov
August 5, 2010
In Reply Refer To:
1703/9100 (280/854) P
EMS TRANSMISSION 08/10/2010
Instruction Memorandum No. 2010-173
Expires: 09/30/2011
To: All Field Officials
From: Assistant Director, Business and Fiscal Resources
Subject: Renewable Energy Generated or Purchased for the Bureau of Land Management’s Owned Facilities DD: 09/17/2010
Program Area: Engineering, Property, Procurement and Resource Protection
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides policy and guidance to address the use of renewable energy within Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and establishes how renewable energy projects on the BLM’s facilities will be implemented, tracked, and reported in compliance with multiple statutes, including the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005); Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007); Executive Order 13423; and Executive Order 13514.
Policy/Action: Field officials are encouraged to apply renewable energy technologies to the BLM’s owned facilities, where appropriate and feasible.
Field officials are requested to:
- Review and update the attached Renewable Energy spreadsheet (Attachment 1) for accuracy and completeness of sites under their respective control, in accordance with instructions provided (Attachment 2).
Existing systems are to be verified and systems not on the list are to be added. Green Power purchases should also be included on the spreadsheet. In addition, there has been a tremendous influx of renewable projects associated with the recovery monies and it is important to make sure the spreadsheet accurately addresses all of those projects.
- Identify new opportunities for the deployment of renewable energy technologies within their respective field offices.
- Submit responses described in the instructions (Attachment 2) to Charles_Svoboda@blm.gov and David_Campbell@blm.gov by September 17, 2010.
Timeframe: Effective upon issuance.
Background: While the term “renewable energy” generally refers to electricity supplied from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, geothermal, hydropower, and various forms of biomass, this IM addresses the specific subset of the renewable energy sources used to power BLM-owned buildings or facilities.
In August 2005, President Bush signed EPAct 2005 which defines renewable energy as electrical energy generated produced by solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, ocean (including tidal, wave, current and thermal), geothermal, municipal solid waste, or new hydroelectric generation capacity achieved from increased efficiency or additions of new capacity at an existing hydroelectric project. Section 203 of EPAct 2005 emphasizes renewable energy projects by doubling the credit that Federal facilities may take on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) scorecards from the onsite generation of electricity.
Section 203 of EPAct 2005 defines the renewable energy goals for the federal sector:
“The President, acting through the Secretary, shall seek to ensure that, to the extent economically feasible and technically practicable, of the total amount of electric energy the federal government consumes during any fiscal year, the following amounts shall be renewable energy:
- Not less than 3 percent in fiscal years 2007 through 2009.
- Not less than 5 percent in fiscal years 2010 through 2012.
- Not less than 7.5 percent in fiscal year 2013 and each fiscal year thereafter.”
The BLM is tracking the use of renewable energy through the attached spreadsheet and reports progress to the Department regularly.
Budget Impact: No budget impacts are expected for updating the information. There would be variable impacts for implementing and maintaining new or existing renewable energy technologies or for purchasing green power for BLM-owned facilities.
Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: None.
Coordination: This IM has been coordinated with BLM WO-280, WO-800, and the DOI Office of Acquisition and Property Management.
Contact: David Campbell at (202) 912-7043, David_Campbell@blm.gov or Chuck Svoboda at (303) 236-6661, Charles_Svoboda@blm.gov.
Signed by: Authenticated by:
Ann DeBlasi Robert M. Williams
Acting, Assistant Director Division of IRM Governance,WO-560
Business and Fiscal Resources
2 Attachments