[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2172 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2172

   To facilitate the development of wind energy resources on Federal 
                                 lands.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 14, 2011

 Mrs. Noem (for herself, Mr. Hastings of Washington, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. 
Broun of Georgia, Mr. Duncan of Tennessee, and Mr. Wittman) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
   Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To facilitate the development of wind energy resources on Federal 
                                 lands.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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 right-of-way for the project;
            (2) is installed--
                    (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. 4321 et seq.) shall not 
apply with respect to a meteorological site testing and monitoring 
project.
    (c) Permit Timeline.--
            (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) 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.
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