Gov. Brian Sandoval has signed a new law designed to ensure that the Nevada Department of Wildlife will review the wildlife and habitat impacts of renewable energy proposals in a timely manner without having to drain its general budget to do so.
Assembly Bill 307 creates a fund collected from developers proposing energy projects. The money is to be provided to NDOW to conduct wildlife surveys, make wildlife maps, pay for mitigation projects for wildlife and habitat impacted by energy projects, and provide staff to carry out those tasks.
Previous to this law, NDOW was responsible for reviewing the growing list of energy development permit applications at the expense of its general budget, which comes mostly from hunting and fishing license sales and federal matching funds. As Nevada has become a hot spot for renewable energy development, the agency had become overrun with applications, which were also draining its resources.