Overview of Best Management Practices used to Mitigate Environmental Impacts from Large- Scale Oil and Gas and Renewable Energy Development Projects on Public Lands Managed by the Bureau of Land Management

Since 2009, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved 17,830 applications for permit to drill oil and gas wells and approximately 5,085 associated pipeline, power and production facility rights-of- way. During this same timeframe, BLM authorized 33 renewable energy projects capable of producing over 10,000 megawatts of power or enough energy to power 3.5 million homes. The approved renewable energy projects include 18 utility-scale solar facilities, seven wind farms and eight geothermal plants, with associated transmission corridors and infrastructure enabling these projects to provide power to nearby transmission grids. In Fiscal Year 2011, over 117 million barrels of oil were produced from public and Indian lands. In addition, the nearly 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas produced from public lands made 2011 the second-most productive year for natural gas on record. Renewable energy production from wind, solar, geothermal and biomass that – together with conventional oil and gas energy resources – contribute to the Nation’s energy security and to the clean energy economy of the future. These resources are a significant source of economic development and employment. While the oil and gas industry and BLM are working together to address environmental impacts of development and to achieve higher standards, renewable energy developers are working to create a new energy industry, incorporating clean, safe standards from the outset. In delivering new energy to America, BLM is working with Federal partners, States, and local communities guided by the belief that energy development where promoted and sited in a thoughtful way, can fully contribute to conservation and protection of the environment. This presentation will briefly touch on best management practices (BMPs) that have been used to mitigate environmental impacts from large-scale oil and gas and renewable energy development projects on public lands administered by BLM. These BMP approaches are based upon comprehensive master project planning concepts which include: reduction in initial and interim surface disturbance areas; consolidation of linear infrastructure into well designed corridors; consolidation of development and operational infrastructure to a limited number of sites; elimination of hazards to wildlife, noise reduction, and use of remote operations and monitoring technology. James Gazewood, Renewable Energy Program Coordinator, BLM Utah, 440 West 200 South, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, UT, 84101, jim_gazewood@blm.gov Jim Gazewood serves as BLM Utah’s Renewable Energy Program Coordinator overseeing wind, solar, geothermal and biomass energy development. Jim has B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Wyoming and a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University. During the past 29 years, Jim has held various petroleum engineering, project and program management positions with BLM. Among his accomplishments include serving as the Acting Oil and Gas Program Deputy Manager in Washington; as a project manager overseeing the development of a large bureau-wide automated oil and gas well permitting and field inspection and enforcement system; serving as a Co-chairman on the American Petroleum Institute’s - Petroleum Industry Data Interchange (API-PIDX) Regulatory User’s Group (REGS) to develop an electronic well permitting data exchange standard for use by industry with MMS Offshore, BLM Onshore, and state oil and gas commissions; as BLM Wyoming’s Powder River Basin Coal Bed Methane Program Coordinator working on BLM’s largest oil and gas project approval to date; and the completion of a Report to Congress for the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 365, Federal Oil and Gas Permit Streamlining Pilot Project that encompassed seven major oil and gas permitting offices located in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah. Prior to joining BLM, Jim worked seven years in natural gas well drilling and production operations throughout the Rockies with Santa Fe Energy and Mountain Fuel Supply Companies