For a cleaner, more prosperous world, ACC mobilizes conservatives around environmental issues, fostering collaboration in the pursuit of environmental conservation.
July 21, 2025
U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of the Solicitor
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240
Interior.RegulatoryInfo@doi.gov
Response to DOI Request for Information Docket No. DOI-2025-0005
Reforming outdated, overly complex, and burdensome regulations is essential to advancing American energy dominance while upholding our world-class environmental standards. On behalf of the American Conservation Coalition and our 80,000 young leaders nationwide, thank you to the Department of the Interior (DOI) for its leadership in creating a regulatory environment conducive to building the future America deserves. As ACC works to build the conservative environmental movement, we’ve seen firsthand that economic prosperity and environmental protection go hand in hand, and smart regulatory reform is a prime example of this synergy.
Specifically, ACC is supportive of the following reforms at DOI to reduce the burden of federal regulations on critical projects and infrastructure.
- Hold geothermal lease sales annually and commit to holding replacement sales if a scheduled sale is missed.
- Set a 60-day internal target to process geothermal drilling permits and other project approvals after environmental reviews are complete.
- Allow co-location of solar and wind projects on existing oil, gas, coal, or geothermal leases, with the leaseholder’s consent.
- Adopt or expand categorical exclusions (CEs) for wildfire mitigation, such as prescribed burns and mechanical thinning, by modeling them on existing U.S. Forest Service CEs.
- Where feasible, remove regulatory barriers on BLM and BLR lands that may unintentionally prohibit innovative drought mitigation strategies, such as cloud seeding and other efforts to improve precipitation efficiency.
- Establish a CE for low-impact hydropower projects at existing infrastructure, such as non-powered dams, irrigation canals, and conduits.
- DOI should prioritize avoiding overly burdensome regulations that delay or obstruct the deployment of any form of American energy, from natural gas and geothermal to wind and solar.
- Revise BLM grazing regulations to formalize and expand the Outcome-Based Grazing Authorizations pilot (originally trialed under the first Trump administration), embracing adaptive management and flexibility to support voluntary conservation.
ACC appreciates the opportunity to comment and commends DOI for its leadership in removing the red tape that is holding back a better future for America. By streamlining regulations, we can pave the way for a cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous future for all Americans.
Sincerely,
Sarah Rosa
Policy Director