Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 25962, Apr. 12, 2024.

(a) By accepting a grant or lease, you agree to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions. During construction, operation, maintenance, and termination of the project you must:

(1) To the extent practicable, comply with all existing and subsequently enacted, issued, or amended Federal laws and regulations and State laws and regulations applicable to the authorized use;

(2) Rebuild and repair roads, fences, and established trails destroyed or damaged by the project;

(3) Build and maintain suitable crossings for existing roads and significant trails that intersect the project;

(4) Do everything reasonable to prevent and suppress wildfires on or in the immediate vicinity of the right-of-way area;

(5) Not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment during any stage of the project because of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, or national origin. You must also require subcontractors to not discriminate;

(6) Pay monitoring fees and rent described in § 2805.16 and subpart 2806;

(7) Assume full liability if third parties are injured or damages occur to property on or near the right-of-way (see § 2807.12);

(8) Comply with project-specific terms, conditions, and stipulations, including requirements to:

(i) Restore, revegetate, and curtail erosion or conduct any other rehabilitation measure the BLM determines necessary;

(ii) Ensure that activities in connection with the grant comply with air and water quality standards or related facility siting standards contained in applicable Federal or State law or regulations;

(iii) Control or prevent damage to:

(A) Scenic, aesthetic, cultural, and environmental values, including fish and wildlife habitat;

(B) Public and private property; and

(C) Public health and safety;

(iv) Provide for compensatory mitigation for residual impacts associated with the right-of-way;

(v) Protect the interests of individuals living in the general area who rely on the area for subsistence uses as that term is used in Title VIII of Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) (16 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.);

(vi) Ensure that you construct, operate, maintain, and terminate the facilities on the lands in the right-of-way in a manner consistent with the grant or lease, including the approved POD, if one was required;

(vii) When the State standards are more stringent than Federal standards, comply with State standards for public health and safety, environmental protection, and siting, constructing, operating, and maintaining any facilities and improvements on the right-of-way; and

(viii) Grant the BLM an equivalent authorization for an access road across your land if the BLM determines that a reciprocal authorization is needed in the public interest and the authorization the BLM issues to you is also for road access;

(9) Immediately notify all Federal, State, tribal, and local agencies of any release or discharge of hazardous material reportable to such entity under applicable law. You must also notify the BLM at the same time and send the BLM a copy of any written notification you prepared;

(10) Not dispose of or store hazardous material on your right-of-way, except as provided by the terms, conditions, and stipulations of your grant;

(11) Certify your compliance with all requirements of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, (42 U.S.C. 11001 et seq.), when you receive, assign, renew, amend, or terminate your grant;

(12) Control and remove any release or discharge of hazardous material on or near the right-of-way arising in connection with your use and occupancy of the right-of-way, whether or not the release or discharge is authorized under the grant. You must also remediate and restore lands and resources affected by the release or discharge to the BLM's satisfaction and to the satisfaction of any other Federal, State, tribal, or local agency having jurisdiction over the land, resource, or hazardous material;

(13) Comply with all liability and indemnification provisions and stipulations in the grant;

(14) As the BLM directs, provide diagrams or maps showing the location of any constructed facility;

(15) As the BLM directs, provide, or give access to, any pertinent environmental, technical, and financial records, reports, and other information, such as Power Purchase and Interconnection Agreements or the production and sale data for electricity generated from the approved facilities on public lands. Failure to comply with such requirements may, at the discretion of the BLM, result in suspension or termination of the right-of-way authorization. The BLM may use this and similar information for the purpose of monitoring your authorization and for periodic evaluation of financial obligations under the authorization, as appropriate. Any records the BLM obtains will be made available to the public subject to all applicable legal requirements and limitations for inspection and duplication under the Freedom of Information Act. Any information marked confidential or proprietary will be kept confidential to the extent allowed by law; and

(16) Comply with all other stipulations that the BLM may require.

(b) You must comply with the bonding requirements under § 2805.20. The BLM will not issue a Notice to Proceed or give written approval to proceed with ground disturbing activities until you comply with this requirement.

(c) By accepting a grant or lease for solar or wind energy development, you also agree to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions. You must:

(1) Not begin any ground disturbing activities until the BLM issues a Notice to Proceed (see § 2807.10) or written approval to proceed with ground disturbing activities;

(2) Complete construction within the timeframes in the approved POD, but no later than 24 months after the start of construction, unless the project has been approved for staged development, or as otherwise authorized by the BLM;

(3) If an approved POD provides for staged development, unless otherwise approved by the BLM:

(i) Begin construction of the initial phase of development within 12 months after issuance of the Notice to Proceed, but no later than 24 months after the effective date of the right-of-way authorization;

(ii) Begin construction of each stage of development (following the first) within 3 years of the start of construction of the previous stage of development, and complete construction of that stage no later than 24 months after the start of construction of that stage, unless otherwise authorized by the BLM; and

(iii) Have no more than 3 development stages, unless otherwise authorized by the BLM;

(4) Maintain all onsite electrical generation equipment and facilities in accordance with the design standards in the approved POD;

(5) Repair and place into service, or remove from the site, damaged or abandoned facilities that have been inoperative for any continuous period of 3 months and that present an unnecessary hazard to the public lands. You must take appropriate remedial action within 30 days after receipt of a written noncompliance notice, unless you have been provided an extension of time by the BLM. Alternatively, you must show good cause for any delays in repairs, use, or removal; estimate when corrective action will be completed; provide evidence of diligent operation of the facilities; and submit a written request for an extension of the 30-day deadline. If you do not comply with this provision, the BLM may suspend or terminate the authorization under §§ 2807.17 through 2807.19; and

(6) Comply with the diligent development provisions of the authorization or the BLM may suspend or terminate your grant or lease under §§ 2807.17 through 2807.19. Before suspending or terminating the authorization, the BLM will send you a notice that gives you a reasonable opportunity to correct any noncompliance or to start or resume use of the right-of-way (see § 2807.18). In response to this notice, you must:

(i) Provide reasonable justification for any delays in construction (for example, delays in equipment delivery, legal challenges, and acts of God);

(ii) Provide the anticipated date of completion of construction and evidence of progress toward the start or resumption of construction; and

(iii) Submit a written request under paragraph (e) of this section for extension of the timelines in the approved POD. If you do not comply with the requirements of paragraph (c)(7) of this section, the BLM may deny your request for an extension of the timelines in the approved POD.

(7) In addition to the RCE requirements of § 2805.20(a)(5) for a grant, the bond secured for a grant or lease must cover the estimated costs of cultural resource and Indian cultural resource identification, protection, and mitigation for project impacts.

(d) For energy site or project testing grants:

(1) You must install all monitoring facilities within 12 months after the effective date of the grant or other authorization. If monitoring facilities under a site testing and monitoring right-of-way authorization have not been installed within 12 months after the effective date of the authorization or consistent with the timeframe of the approved POD, you must request an extension pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section;

(2) You must maintain all onsite equipment and facilities in accordance with the approved design standards;

(3) You must repair and place into service, or remove from the site, damaged or abandoned facilities that have been inoperative for any continuous period of 3 months and that present an unnecessary hazard to the public lands; and

(4) If you do not comply with the diligent development provisions of either the site testing and monitoring authorization or the project testing and monitoring authorization, the BLM may terminate your authorization under § 2807.17.

(e) Notification of noncompliance and request for alternative requirements. (1) As soon as you anticipate that you will not meet any stipulation, term, or condition of the approved right-of-way grant or lease, or in the event of your noncompliance with any such stipulation, term, or condition, you must notify the BLM in writing and show good cause for the noncompliance, including an explanation of the reasons for the failure.

(2) You may also request that the BLM consider alternative stipulations, terms, or conditions. Any request for an alternative stipulation, term, or condition must comply with applicable law in order to be considered. Any proposed alternative to applicable bonding requirements must provide the United States with adequate financial assurance for potential liabilities associated with your right-of-way grant or lease. Any such request is not approved until you receive BLM approval in writing.

[81 FR 92213, Dec. 19, 2016]