US governors call for actions to ease wind, solar development

A bipartisan group of US governors has called on president Barack Obama's administration to take further steps to facilitate wind and solar development.

The Governors' Wind & Solar Energy Coalition, which groups 20 governors, on Monday sent a letter to the president, suggesting a number of actions to speed up offshore wind deployment and improve permitting for wind and solar projects.

With respect to offshore wind, the letter, which is signed by the coalition chairman and vice chairman, Iowa governor Terry Branstad and Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo, expresses concern that the recently finalised Atlantic Coast Port Access Route Study (ACPARS) from the Coast Guard may not properly balance the multiple uses of the ocean. It urges the administration to find a pathway between the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), including collaboration with the states.

The governors also want further streamlining of the offshore wind permitting process, including setting reasonable deadlines for BOEM and outside agencies involved in the review of projects.

The letter further says that it is difficult to permit wind and solar projects on public lands and that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is adding uncertainty and unnecessary delays in permitting both on public and private lands. It calls on the administration to ensure that the FWS does not broaden legal liability for the private sector under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) without having a workable general permit process to provide protection from the liability. It also wants the administration to ensure that the final eagle permit rule is workable while continuing to protect eagles.

The governors called on the administration to address the private sector's concerns related to the expected move by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from a right-of-way grant and rental fee process for wind and solar development to a competitive leasing process.

The letter is available on the website of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), which welcomed the governors' support.

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