19–006 

112TH CONGRESS REPT. 112–300 " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session Part 1 

UTILIZING AMERICA’S FEDERAL LANDS FOR WIND 

ENERGY ACT 

DECEMBER 1, 2011.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 2172] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 2172) to facilitate the development of wind energy resources on Federal lands, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as 

amended do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited at the ‘‘Utilizing America’s Federal Lands for Wind Energy 

Act’’. 

SEC. 2. ONSHORE METEOROLOGICAL SITE TESTING AND MONITORING PROJECT. 

(a) DEFINITION OF METEOROLOGICAL SITE TESTING AND MONITORING PROJECT.— 

In this section, the term ‘‘meteorological site testing and monitoring project’’ means 

a project carried out on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management or 

the Forest Service to test or monitor weather (including wind and solar energy) 

using towers or other devices, that— 

(1) causes— 

(A) less than 1 acre of soil or vegetation disruption at the location of each 

meteorological tower or other device; and 

(B) not more than 5 acres of soil or disruption within the proposed rightof-way for the project; 

(2) is installed— 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTS
2 

(A) to the maximum extent practicable, using existing access roads; 

(B) in a manner that does not require off-road motorized access other 

than 1 installation activity and 1 decommissioning activity along an identified off-road route approved by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management or Chief of the Forest Service; 

(C) without construction of new roads other than upgrading of existing 

minor drainage crossings for safety purposes; and 

(D) without the use of digging or drilling equipment vehicles other than 

rubber-tired vehicles with gross weight ratings under 8,500 pounds; 

(3) is decommissioned not more than 5 years after the date of commencement 

of the project, including— 

(A) removal of any towers, devices, or other surface infrastructure from 

the site; and 

(B) restoration of the site to approximately the condition that existed at 

the time the project began; and 

(4) provides meteorological information obtained by the permitted project to 

the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. 

(b) NEPA EXCLUSION.—Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) shall not apply with respect to a meteorological 

site testing and monitoring project. 

(c) PERMIT TIMELINE AND CONDITIONS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of Land Management or Chief 

of the Forest Service, as applicable, shall decide whether to issue a permit for 

a project that is a meteorological site testing and monitoring project within 30 

days after receiving an application for the permit. 

(2) PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSULTATION.—During the period referred to in 

paragraph (1), the Director of the Bureau of Land Management or the Chief of 

the Forest Service, as applicable, shall— 

(A) provide an opportunity for submission of comments by the public; and 

(B) consult with the heads of other Federal, State, and local agencies that 

would be affected by the issuance of the permit. 

(3) DENIAL OF APPLICATION.—If the application is denied, the Director or 

Chief, respectively, shall provide the applicant— 

(A) in writing, clear and comprehensive reasons why the application was 

not approved and detailed information concerning any deficiencies, and 

(B) an opportunity to remedy any deficiencies. 

(d) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The information provided to the Bureau of 

Land Management and the Forest Service pursuant to subsection (a)(4) shall be 

treated by such agency as proprietary information and protected against disclosure. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 2172, as ordered reported, is to facilitate the 

development of wind energy resources on Federal lands. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Utilizing America’s Federal Lands for Wind Energy Act 

(H.R. 2172) facilitates the development of onshore wind power on 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service land. 

Current regulations require a full National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) review for the installation of a simple temporary meteorological tower that creates minimal environmental disturbance 

and is required to test an area’s viability for a large scale wind 

project. This permitting process alone can add up to three years to 

the project development. The legislation will waive NEPA for meteorological towers that cause less than one acre of disturbance, are 

removed within five years of the completion of the project and are 

installed to test the viability of an area for potential wind power 

while still allowing time for public comment and interagency consultation. This could shorten the process for installing an onshore 

wind project by at least two years. 

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates 

that U.S. electricity demand will grow by 39% from 2005 to 2030, 

reaching 5.8 billion megawatt-hours by 2030. Wind energy reduces 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTS
3 

reliance on foreign energy sources, has a domestic energy source, 

requires no imported fuel and the turbine components can be produced on U.S. soil. 

Wind farms already have to clear a number of obstacles, such as 

land-use laws, airspace regulations and competition with other 

users for the land whose uses may be more highly valued than 

electricity generation. Resolving these wind power project siting 

issues is an important part of expanding wind energy development. 

The principles applied to wind energy siting issues must promote 

efficient and fair permitting processes at the federal level. 

In 2005, BLM published a Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement for wind, proposing a Wind Energy Development Program to establish policies to address environmental impacts, and 

wildlife, visual and land use issues surrounding wind development 

activities. 

Further, BLM concerns over the golden eagle have significantly 

delayed wind project development on public lands. In summer 

2010, BLM issued a new policy requiring approval from the U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service on specific plans for addressing eagles. 

This sudden change in policy has resulted in significant delays to 

numerous wind projects, including some projects selected by the 

BLM as ‘‘fast track’’ projects for receiving permit approvals. 

Because of burdensome, time consuming and unpredictable regulations, some developers seek to develop projects on private land 

solely to avoid the regulatory process which can add years to the 

development timeline. Streamlining the permitting process will enable the construction of onshore wind projects on federal lands, and 

greater energy production for American consumers. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 2172 was introduced on June 14, 2011, by Congresswoman 

Kristi Noem (R–SD). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on Energy and Mineral Resources. The bill was also referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture. On June 23, 2011, the Subcommittee on 

Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing on the bill. On July 

13, 2011, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. 

The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources was discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman Doug Lamborn (R– 

CO) offered an amendment; the amendment was adopted by voice 

vote. Congressman John Garamendi (D–CA) offered amendment 

designated .058; the amendment was withdrawn. Congressman 

Rush Holt (D–NJ) offered amendment designated .001; the amendment was not adopted by a bipartisan roll call vote of 15–27, as 

follows: 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTS
4 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTSInsert offset folio 5 here HR300P1.001
5 

Congresswoman Kristi Noem (R–SD) offered an amendment; the 

amendment was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was 

ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by a bipartisan roll call vote of 26–16, as follows: 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTS
6 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTSInsert offset folio 7 here HR300P1.002
7 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Utilizing America’s Federal Lands 

for Wind Energy Act.’’ 

Section 2. Meteorological site testing and monitoring project exclusion 

This section waives NEPA requirements for any meteorological 

testing tower that is installed on land administered by BLM or the 

U.S. Forest Service to test or monitor weather. It requires that permits submitted to install a tower must be acted on in 30 days and 

if denied, a written reason must be provided to the applicant. The 

section also requires that any information provided to BLM and the 

U.S. Forest Service be treated as proprietary information and protected from disclosure. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 2172—Utilizing America’s Federal Lands for Wind Energy Act 

H.R. 2172 would exempt certain weather testing and monitoring 

activities on federal land from compliance with provisions of the 

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Based on information 

from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have 

no significant impact on the federal budget. Enacting H.R. 2172 

would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-yougo procedures do not apply. 

Under the bill, environmental impact reviews under NEPA would 

not be required for weather testing and monitoring activities on 

federal land that meet certain requirements related to the duration 

of the activities, the amount of land disturbed, and the restoration 

of the project site. The bill also would reduce the amount of time 

the agency administering the affected lands would have to determine whether to grant permits for weather testing and monitoring 

activities. Based on information provided by BLM and the Forest 

Service, CBO expects that implementing the legislation could affect 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTS
8 

the workload of certain offices within those agencies; however, we 

estimate that the budgetary impact of any such effects would be 

negligible. 

H.R. 2172 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required by 

clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

this bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or 

tax expenditures. CBO estimates that implementing the legislation 

would have no significant impact on the federal budget. Enacting 

H.R. 2172 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, 

pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTS
(9) 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

We oppose H.R. 2172 because it would exempt certain meteorological testing activities on public lands from any federal review 

under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This bill 

eliminates the ability of federal land managers to review certain 

projects to ensure that they do not threaten the environment or 

public health and safety. The bill further jeopardizes public safety 

by attempting to short-circuit the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) hazard assessment process, which is designed to ensure that meteorological towers do not interfere with air traffic. 

The wind industry has not endorsed the bill, which leaves in doubt 

the claims of bill proponents that the measure will increase the development of wind energy on public lands. 

This bill is a solution in search of a problem. The Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) already 

have the authority to use the ‘‘categorical exclusion’’ process to expedite permitting and limit NEPA review for meteorological towers. 

Since 2008, the BLM has granted a categorical exclusion for 149 

out of 181 applications to build meteorological towers on public 

lands, and the USFS has granted categorical exclusions for all 15 

applications they have received in that time. That means 84 percent of projects are already receiving the expedited treatment this 

bill seeks. In exchange for guaranteeing that those final 16 percent 

of projects are expedited, H.R. 2172 would remove the ability of 

federal land managers to review meteorological projects entirely, including in those rare instances when a project may have significant 

impacts on the safety of commercial and military air traffic, significant impacts on park lands or cultural artifacts, and significant impact on endangered species and critical habitat. 

There is a critically important difference between providing for 

expedited permitting most of the time, and exempting an entire 

category of projects from NEPA review all of the time. By adopting 

the latter approach H.R. 2172, turns a blind eye to those rare situations where extraordinary circumstances may exist, indicating 

that significant environmental impacts might occur. By waiving 

NEPA, H.R. 2172 removes the flexibility of the permitting agencies 

to address and mitigate any potential extraordinary circumstances 

that exist surrounding a proposed project. Since the BLM and 

USFS still possess the final authority to approve or deny a project, 

H.R. 2172 may also have the unintended consequence of causing 

more meteorological testing facilities to be denied. 

H.R. 2172 ignores the critical public safety role of the FAA, 

which evaluates the potential hazards of any structure that may 

impact critical aviation operations. The FAA is required to conduct 

an independent hazard analysis of all proposed meteorological towers and wind farms prior to construction under 49 U.S.C. 44718. 

This process usually requires 60–90 days once the FAA receives a 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTS
10 

completed application from an applicant. If the FAA determines 

that a proposed meteorological tower poses a threat to aviation, 

then such a project will, as a matter of course, be unable to receive 

insurance or financing. By imposing an arbitrary 30 day deadline 

on the BLM and USFS to either approve or deny a meteorological 

tower prior to the completion of the FAA review, H.R. 2172 injects 

more uncertainty into the approval process, not less. It is very possible that the BLM or USFS may approve a project under the restructured process proposed in this bill, only to later have the very 

same project denied by the FAA. The FAA has expressed similar 

concerns. 

During the mark-up of this bill, an amendment was offered by 

Subcommittee Ranking Member Holt that would have addressed 

this concern by making clear that the Secretary of Interior would 

consult with the FAA with respect to the approval of meteorological 

towers without an arbitrary deadline for concluding any required 

consultations. The amendment was defeated 27–15, with all Republicans opposing. Representative Noem offered an amendment, 

which was adopted on a voice vote, which requires the BLM and 

USFS to consult with all other Federal, State, and local agencies 

that would be affected by the permit. This amendment does not resolve the underlying problem with the FAA’s independent review 

process since the BLM and USFS are still required to either approve or deny a project at the end of the 30 day period. The Secretary has no power to compel other agencies to expedite their own 

review processes, meaning that this new, required consultation will 

be a rather empty exercise. 

H.R. 2172 strips from the BLM and USFS their ability to use 

NEPA, the agencies’ most important planning tool, in their decision 

making process when they evaluate meteorological towers. H.R. 

2172 ignores the FAA’s critical role in ensuring our skies remain 

safe for air travel. The renewable energy industry has not suggested this solution and has not endorsed the legislation. We oppose it as well. 

EDWARD J. MARKEY. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO

SABLAN. COLLEEN W. HANABUSA. RUSH HOLT. GRACE F. NAPOLITANO. 

NIKI TSONGAS. 

FRANK PALLONE, Jr. 

MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO. 

BETTY SUTTON. 

BEN R. LUJA ́ N. 

RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA. 

JOHN GARAMENDI. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTS
11 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTSInsert offset folio 14 here HR300P1.003
12 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with REPORTSInsert offset folio 15 here HR300P1.004