PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jul 31, 2009
Renewable Energy Development Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to carry out a program for the leasing of federal lands to advance, develop, assess, install, and operate commercial renewable solar, wind, and geothermal energy systems.
Requires the Secretary to: (1) identify lease sites comprised of a total of 6,400,000 acres under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming which are suitable for the installation and operation of solar, wind, or geothermal energy systems; and (2) incorporate renewable energy development into the relevant agency's land use and resource management plans, or equivalent plans for the identified lands.
Specifies the total annual amount of acreage that is to be released for leasing under this Act from 2010 to 2019. Excludes specified federal lands from inclusion within the program.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Sets forth requirements for competitive leasing sales and noncompetitive leasing of the lands to be leased.
Makes any lease of lands under this Act effective for a 30-year period.
Directs the Secretary to complete a programmatic environmental impact statement for the program and to publish a final regulation to implement this Act.
Directs the Secretary to study: (1) barriers to additional access to federal lands for the transmission of energy produced under leases awarded under such program; and (2) the need for energy transmission corridors on public lands to address identified congestion or constraints.
People & committees
Rep. Heller, Dean [R-NV-2] · R–NV
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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