DRECP kicks off “complicated” process
The Inyo County Board of Supervisors hosted a public meeting at the Independence American Legion Hall on Tuesday evening featuring representatives from the county, state, and federal government to inform the public of the state’s Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) which, according to their website will help provide effective protection and conservation of desert ecosystems while allowing for the appropriate development of renewable energy projects.
The DRECP’s focus is on the desert regions and adjacent lands of seven California counties — Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego.
As is often the case, the County’s Planning Department is expected to analyze and work with the state and federal agencies on the DRECP and keep the county’s supervisors abreast of developments, concerns, and what the public thinks about it.
After brief introductions by Planning Director Josh Hart, the meeting was turned over to Commissioner Karen Douglas with the California Energy Commission, who gave a brief explanation of purpose and why it was important to be “proactive” rather than “reactive” on a project-by-project basis. To that end the California Energy Commission, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also known as the Renewable Energy Action Team, will work together on large renewable energy projects to meet the state’s green energy goals.
“The goal from a planning perspective,” said Douglas, “is to streamline the process on renewable energy and conservation that also recognizes the impact on communities, while shortening the time to give approvals and lessen costs.”
Douglas went on to caution the audience that the draft plan will be a very different document from the final plan and asked that they be understanding of what is going to be a very complicated process.
During the meeting, the DRECP website (http://www.drecp.org) was mentioned repeatedly as the best source of current information and mapping for everyone from the public to those charged with the planning.
Joining Douglas at the meeting was Jim Kenna, the Director for the California Bureau of Land Management (BLM). He stressed that this is a very long-term process lasting until 2040. The goal is 20,000 megawatts as a baseline and it encompasses approximately 22.5 million acres of federal and non-federal California desert land that goes all the way down to the border of Mexico.
Explaining the need for renewable energy, Kenna noted that the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Plant is now closed and represents a huge loss of energy capacity as does the now-closed Mojave Power Station, a coal-fired power plant shut down primarily due to economics. He emphasized that the state is dealing with an aging infrastructure complicated by climate change, natural gas concerns, and emergent technologies. Kenna noted, “It is complex with many moving parts.”
Commenting on the structure of the plan, the BLM is amending its Land Use Plans, which cover public lands. The U.S. Federal Fish and Wildlife Services general wildlife and habitat plan will also be included as part of the planning process as well as the California Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP) which is addressing conservation on over 11 million acres. Furthermore, while the plan covers both the creation, transmission, and storage of renewable energy, it also has to work around 50 endangered species and around 30 natural communities.
The DRECP’s stated goal is for an efficient and effective biological mitigation and conservation program that gives renewable project developers greater certainty over the timing of permits and the costs under the federal and California Endangered Species Acts while preserving, restoring and enhancing natural communities and related ecosystems.
After Kenna’s comments and a brief summary of the County Planning Department’s role in energy projects by Planning Director Josh Hart, the participants were asked to visit various stations around the room for more information and to participate in some general surveys on how they felt about certain areas that might be considered for renewable energy.
There was diverse opinions on the subject of renewable energy from those that support it to those that support it but wish for it to be done somewhere other than around their community with concerns over loss of scenic views and loss of more water as the result of renewable solar energy plants.
Probably one of the most heartfelt comments made at the public meeting was from Inyo County Supervisor Rick Pucci who said that this new plan was just a bit late for Inyo County as it has had to deal with three proposed renewable energy plants with little of the help the DRECP would have provided. It received a good laugh from the audience, but it is very true. Renewable energy, which seems like a very noble idea and is very much needed, is at the same time very complicated.
For more information, to stay abreast of the progress, and to offer your comments on the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, visit their website at http://www.drecp.org.
