On Feb. 9, the San Bernardino County (California) Board of Supervisors okayed changes to the county code regarding renewable energy projects like solar, with said changes aimed primarily at expediting the permitting process and instituting tougher regulations.
In a 3-1 vote, with one member absent, the supervisors agreed to institute stricter regulations regarding the size and color of wind turbines, and to make it easier for small solar installations (i.e., more than five acres but less than 20) to acquire permits. Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt even suggested exempting small solar installations from new regulations.
This ruling was a compromise to a previous ruling that required renewable energy projects to comprise 20 acres or more in locations zoned for rural living land use. According to sources, more than 60 such projects are ready to launch.
The amendment clearly pleased some landowners who have small-scale projects ready to enter the permitting phase. In fact, according to one landowner, the area doesn’t need more restrictions, but merely help if solar is to succeed and graduate to a position as a viable, long-term regional power source.
At the request of Supervisor Josie Gonzales, the new rulings may go back to the San Bernardino County Planning Commission for further review before they become law. The suggestion makes sense, but San Bernardino County – like other areas around the country – needs to improve the solar permitting process to encourage adoption of the technology. Currently, solar permitting in San Bernardino can take up to one year.
At the same meeting but in closed session, the supervisors – led by Mitzelfelt – expressed their concern with the siting of the Ivanpah Solar Project, a 440-megawatt installation slated for construction in the Mojave Desert.
Mitzelfelt has said that he would support the installation if it were proposed for private land closer to “High Desert job markets”, but as it is currently located the Ivanpah project is likely to benefit Las Vegas residents more than those living in or near San Bernardino.
Ivanpah and other Mojave Desert solar projects are also opposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who has introduced a comprehensive desert protection bill on about one million acres of desert aimed at preserving critical habitat for the endangered desert tortoise, among other species.
Feinstein is joined by conservation and environmental groups, all of whom argue that solar power should be confined to already-developed areas, like those around interstate highways, under and around power lines and substations, or on privately-owned land.
Feinstein’s primary argument is that she and others in government are under an obligation to preserve public lands (including so-called “heritage lands”) for future generations of Americans. Mitzelfelt’s concerns are that renewable energy projects will “lock down” desert lands against future recreational and economic development. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has already weighed in by commenting: “If we can’t put solar in the desert, I don’t know where (deleted) we can put it!”
Because the Ivanpah project is located on federal land, it is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the California Energy Commission. San Bernardino Supervisors plan to submit comments to the BLM on Thursday. The California Energy Commission has not yet set a deadline for submissions.