Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Bob Abbey have officially opened a California Renewable Energy Coordination Office (RECO).
According to the Department of the Interior, the coordinating offices and teams, which also support the speedy permitting of power transmission projects on public lands, aim to reduce the BLM's existing pending applications and use new procedures to expedite the leasing, production and delivery of renewable energy to consumers in less time than under current practices.
‘These offices in California, Nevada, Arizona and Wyoming, along with our renewable permitting teams in six other western states, will help to swiftly complete application reviews on the most ready-to-go and environmentally appropriate solar, wind and geothermal projects on U.S. public lands,’ Salazar says. ‘In California, the coordinating office will enable us to balance vital renewable energy development with the needed protection of sensitive resources in the California Desert Conservation Area.’
The RECO program manager in the California office will be Greg Miller, a 21-year veteran of the BLM who began his career as a wildlife biologist and now manages the renewable energy program for the California Desert District. He will lead a staff of 12 to 15 specialists at two BLM locations – Palm Springs and Moreno Valley.
SOURCE: Department Of The Interior
