WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of President Barack Obama’s comprehensive plan to reduce carbon pollution, while promoting American-made clean energy sources, those with the Bureau of Land Management announced Monday the withdrawal of lands identified for solar energy development in the West from new mining claims.

     The BLM published a federal register notice on July 8 announcing the approval of a public land order that withdraws 303,900 acres of land within 17 solar energy zones in six western states from the location of mining claims that could impede development of solar energy sites.

     “The Public Land Order protects the integrity of the Solar Energy Zones and helps us meet President Obama’s goal of green-lighting enough private renewable energy capacity on public lands to power more than 6 million homes by 2020,” said BLM Principal Deputy Director Neil Kornze.

     The lands had already been segregated from the mining laws under temporary measures. The public land order extends the withdrawal for 20 years.

     The Department of the Interior established the solar energy zones in October 2012 as part of a western solar plan that provides a road map for utility-scale solar energy development on lands managed by the BLM in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

     Solar energy zones encompass the lands most suitable for solar energy development because of their excellent solar resources, access to existing or planned transmission and relatively low conflict with biological, cultural and historic resources. The public land order puts into action the recommendation in the western solar plan to withdraw the public lands encompassed by Solar Energy Zones for 20 years from potentially conflicting uses, including location under the mining laws, subject to valid existing rights.

    Under the federal land policy and Management Act of 1976, the BLM is charged with managing the public lands for multiple uses. Location of new mining claims within the solar energy zones could preclude opportunities for development of solar energy of these lands.  

   Since 2009, the BLM has approved right-of-way applications for 25 solar energy development projects with planned total capacity of over 8,000 megawatts, or enough to power over 2.4 million homes.