Renewable Projects Face Delays: NEPA Review, Court Challenges, and Other Factors
About 60% of windy and solar projects completed their National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review within two years. However, one-third of solar projects and half of windy projects exceeded this deadline. Court challenges and other factors contributed to significant delays.
NEPA requires federal agencies to assess environmental impacts before executing major federal actions. Typically, NEPA reviews for solar and windy projects take about 27 and 45 months respectively, compared to the average of 54 months for other major infrastructure projects.
One-third of solar projects and half of windy projects faced court challenges after completing NEPA review. These challenges, primarily from regional or local environmental groups and Tribal representatives, led to the termination of three projects and significant delays for six others.
Permitting agencies could benefit from collaborating with developers to track factors contributing to project delays. Some solar and windy projects took more than eight years from initial action to reach operational status after completing NEPA review.
NEPA reform legislation proposes reducing the statute of limitations for filing court challenges to 60 or 120 days. Further research into non-NEPA factors hindering renewable energy projects on federal lands is suggested. While NEPA review is one factor affecting project development, financial problems and grid interconnection challenges also play significant roles.
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