On Sept. 23, 2014, the California Energy Commission, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP). The DRECP would create a framework to streamline permitting for up to 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy projects on more than 22 million acres in the California Mojave and Colorado/Sonoran desert region.

The DRECP will be of particular interest to renewable energy project developers and lenders. The DRECP seeks to provide more efficient regulatory assurances under various environmental laws, including the federal and state Endangered Species Acts. The DRECP provides for the streamlined review of renewable energy facility development over the next 25 years, identifying a planning goal of 20,000 megawatts of new renewable energy by 2040. Renewable energy development activities covered by the DRECP will include solar, wind and geothermal projects, as well as transmission facilities that service renewable energy projects.

Originally Published in Law360 – October 2, 2014.