Agencies announce ‘West-wide’ Energy Corridor review workshops in four western states
Organization
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WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Department of Energy will hold public workshops in four western states between May 29 and June 6, 2019, to get local input on an ongoing review of federally designated energy corridors across BLM- and Forest Service-managed lands.
All workshops will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. local time. The dates and locations are as follows:
- May 29, 2019 – Missoula Technology and Development Center, Missoula, Montana
- May 31, 2019 – BLM Rock Springs Field Office, Rock Springs, Wyoming
- June 4, 2019 – Silver Legacy Resort and Casino, Reno, Nevada
- June 6, 2019 – Eagle Crest Resort, Redmond, Oregon
The corridors – commonly known as “West-wide” or “Section 368” corridors – were designated under Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to support siting of oil, gas, and hydrogen pipelines, as well as electric transmission and distribution lines. The BLM and the Forest Service designated approximately 6,000 miles of corridors, and later agreed to review the corridors in a court agreement with environmental groups.
The intent of the workshops is to get stakeholder input on specific corridors in northern California, Idaho, Montana, western Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, using information from corridor review documents (abstracts). Breakout sessions will focus on the viability of potential corridor revisions identified in the abstracts. Also to be discussed are potential enhancements to interagency operating procedures.
The agencies have studied the effectiveness of the corridors over the past 10 years and are now examining new information to identify potential ways to improve the corridors as locations for energy development.
For more information, visit the West-wide Energy Corridor Information Center website at http://corridoreis.anl.gov, or contact Jeremy Bluma, BLM National Project Manager, at jbluma@blm.gov or 208-373-3847. For FS-specific questions, contact Reggie Woodruff, USFS Energy Program Manager, at rwoodruff@fs.fed.us or 202-205-1196.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.