Section 2809.18 - What terms and conditions apply to leases?The lease will be issued subject to the following terms and conditions:
(a)Site control. A lease provides site control to the leaseholder. The term of your lease will be consistent with § 2805.11(b) and will terminate on December 31 of the final year of the lease term. You may submit an application for renewal under § 2805.14(g) . A leaseholder may not construct any facilities on the right-of-way until the BLM issues a notice to proceed or other written form of approval to begin surface disturbing activities.(b)Rent. You must pay any rent as specified in § 2806.52 .(c)POD. You must submit, within 2 years of the lease issuance date, a POD that: (1) Is consistent with the development schedule and other requirements in the POD template posted at http://www.blm.gov; and(2) Addresses all pre-development and development activities.(d)Cost recovery. You must pay the reasonable costs for the BLM or other Federal agencies to review and approve your POD and to monitor your lease. To expedite review of your POD and monitoring of your lease, you may notify BLM in writing that you are waiving paying reasonable costs and are electing to pay the full actual costs incurred by the BLM.(e)Performance and reclamation bond.(1) For Solar Energy Development, you must provide a bond in the amount of $10,000 per acre prior to written approval to proceed with ground disturbing activities.(2) For Wind Energy Development, you must provide a bond in the amount of $10,000 per authorized turbine less than 1 MW in nameplate capacity or $20,000 per authorized turbine equal or greater than 1 MW in nameplate capacity prior to written approval to proceed with ground disturbing activities.(3) For testing and monitoring sites authorized under a development lease, you must provide a bond in the amount of $2,000 per site prior to receiving written approval to proceed with ground disturbing activities.(4) The BLM will adjust the solar and wind energy development bond amounts every 10 years using the change in the IPD-GDP for the preceding 10-year period rounded to the nearest $100. This 10-year average will be adjusted at the same time as the Per Acre Rent Schedule for linear rights-of-way under § 2806.22 .(f)Assignments. You may apply to assign your lease under § 2807.21 , and if an assignment is approved, the BLM will not make any changes to the lease terms or conditions, as provided for by § 2807.21(e) , except for modifications required under § 2805.15(e) .(g)Due diligence of operations. You must start construction within 5 years and begin generation of electricity no later than 7 years from the date of lease issuance, as specified in your approved POD. A request for an extension may be granted for up to 3 years with a show of good cause and approval by the BLM. 81 FR 92224 , 1/18/2017; 89 FR 35684 , 7/1/2024