Maps indicate energy lines
Corridors represent areas where pipelines and transmission lines may be built in the future. These corridors are important because the West has booming population growth.
"There is a greater need to get electricity from where it is produced to where it is needed," said Heather Feeney, a Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman.
Pipelines may carry oil, gas or hydrogen. The corridors may also be used for electricity transmission lines and related infrastructure, such as access and maintenance roads, compressors and pumping stations.
Developers will be able to cut down a portion of the time and money involved in required studies with the mapping of corridors.
Some areas being looked at are up to 3,500 feet wide.
"They will be defined wide enough so you can have several projects," Feeney said.
The Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Defense are all working together to complete the map.
A Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement must be completed by August 2007 under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The agencies are also required to amend land use management and resource plans to incorporate the designated corridors.
While it wasn't required that a draft plan of the map be released, the agencies felt it would be good to get additional feedback. The Western Governors Association will also be discussing it during an annual meeting in Sedona, Ariz., Sunday today through Tuesday.
E-mail: blee@desnews.com
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