FEATURE ARTICLE

July 2009

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Clearing Up Red Tape for Green Projects: California Proposes Streamlined Endangered Species Permitting for Renewable Energy Projects

Renewable energy, a crucial mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is very cool and very hot all at the same time. It’s cool because by reducing emissions, it contributes to the long-term preservation of environmental resources, including threatened and endangered species. It’s hot because construction and operation of renewable energy projects can result in environmental impacts of their own, which has made it an important topic for developers and regulators. Because renewable energy projects occupy a lot of land area, mostly in undeveloped and remote areas, they are also often located in regions that provide habitat for endangered species. For example, many compelling renewable energy projects are proposed within California’s desert regions that provide habitat for state or federally protected species, such as the desert tortoise and the Mojave ground squirrel. To be constructed, these projects will need to comply with the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), implemented by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), and the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), implemented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Compliance with these regulatory schemes has created a heavy regulatory burden for certain projects, slowing development timelines and frustrating expectations. How can we avoid obstacles to developing renewable energy projects that result from cumbersome procedures for endangered species permitting?