On Jan 13 the Bureau of Land Management released a draft of an amendment to the Desert Renewable Energy and Conservation Plan (DRECP) “intended to promote economic growth, support broadband infrastructure development, increase public access, and allow for greater management flexibility in order to meet our nation’s energy needs”.  This change to the DRECP was a result of a flurry of presidential Executive Orders in 2017 through early 2018 requiring government agencies to streamline permitting processes related to critical minerals, broadband, and infrastructure projects that promoted energy independence and economic growth. These EOs were followed by Secretarial Orders from Secretary of Interior Zinke that also expanded recreational opportunities in sensitive desert lands.

 The amendment would not have increased or changed the areas designated for solar projects where solar projects are streamlined. However, the amendment would have converted some of the acreage designated as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) back to multi-use/general lands for OHV recreation, mining, renewable energy development. It would have allowed renewable energy development on 28,800 acres of the Alabama Hills Special Recreation Management Area. The amendment also removed restrictions to the amount of soil and vegetation disturbance allowed on some of the ACECs. The BLM argued that these changes to the ACECs would not impact the natural resources needing protection. That position was challenged and the Department of Interior under the Biden Administration announced plans to kill the amendment on February 17.

Some of the changes to the Eastern Sierra ACECs were logical adjustments of boundaries that overlap with wilderness areas or private land. Others removed the disturbance caps or shrank protected areas--the Panamint Lake and Conglomerate Mesa ACECs in particular. Removing the disturbance cap at Conglomerate Mesa makes it easier and cheaper for K2 Gold to do exploratory drilling there. Shrinking the Panamint Lake ACEC would also facilitate Battery Mineral Resource’s lithium exploratory drilling project on the playa. Lithium is on the critical minerals list, but gold is not. In the Eastern Sierra, the DRECP amendments would have helped the mining sector, not the solar industry, as one would expect. 

Environmental groups were hoping the Biden Administration would withdraw the DRECP amendment, which it just did. Under Secretarial Order 3395, this and many other projects are to be reviewed and re-evaluated by March 20.