Zero Regulation is Not the Answer

In virtually every industry and profession we can point to occurrences of codes and regulations that create needless amounts of red tape, adding unnecessary time to the schedule and taking away valuable resources from the budget. By most businesses, regulation is seen as a hindrance that opposes free market capitalism and, as such, should be minimized. But a complete lack of regulation, even in a fundamentally good pursuit like sustainability, can not only produce a series of liabilities but specifically those that undermine the very goals that sustainability is trying to accomplish.

I recently wrote an article describing geothermal heating and cooling, making no secret of my strong support for the technology and its implementation. On the mainstream of residential construction, geothermal is still rather new so many municipalities are still trying to catch up to the learning curve of the repercussions of installing new wells without hindering the expansion of the budding industry. In doing some research on geothermal for a project in Rhode Island, I came across a surprising interface of regulatory oversight and sustainability that underscores the conversations that they need to continue to have.

The Journey Towards the Center of the Earth

With clients that would like to investigate putting a geothermal well on their property, I set off to uncover the steps we needed to go through to make it a reality. Other than codes, permits are one of the most basic tools that regulating bodies have to interact with the building/design industry. A review of drawings coupled with inspections give the permitting process a chance to confirm that we are built safely, in the right place, at the right size. Given that you usually need a permit to drill a new well for drinking water, it made sense to research permits for geothermal.

I started with the town, calling up the Zoning Department to pose the question of new geothermal, but Zoning is really more concerned with things that are constructed above ground, rather than beneath it, so it stood outside their oversight. They pointed me in the direction of the Buildings Department and wished me a good day. In a conversation with a building examiner, he responded to the question of geothermal with familiarity, but confessed that the department did not really deal with things put in the ground outside of buildings. Maybe the Water and Sewer Department?

Not at all deflated, I continued my search with a phone call to the Water/Sewer Department at Town Hall. A nice woman gave a moment of pause at my query before asking, “Is the house connected to civic water?”

“Yes, I believe it is,” I responded.

“Well, if this new well would be connected to the water supply of the house then there would have to be backflow prevention to make sure nothing in it could back up into the town water system.”

Sensing we could be moving in the wrong direction, I quickly tried to redirect the focus of the exchange, “No, this would be a geothermal well that is completely independent, providing no water, only heating and cooling.”

“Ah. Well in that case there is no permit from us. You should really try the State.”

“Thank you, very much.”

Not to be deterred, I considered my new direction. In Rhode Island, the State agency responsible would most likely be the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (R.I.D.E.M.) that approves permits for wells and for new septic systems. The prognosis certainly seemed possible, so a bit more research left me with a number to call that specializes in water related permits. In short order I am connected to a very well mannered gent who responds eagerly when I mention I am curious about the process for clearing a new geothermal well.

Now I felt like I was getting some where. The RIDEM supervisor goes into an explanation of how if I am installing a commercial, open loop system then it works with me to obtain test borings that are analyzed to determine the necessary means of discarding the waste along with proximity to other wells and water features. The explanation is thorough and ends with, “whereas in the case of residential we don’t offer a permit.”

For a moment my heart skipped a beat. After all, we had been talking up geothermal to the client for months now only to find out we can’t get a permit for it! But after the moment of fear came one of confusion, given that the state gave tax-credit incentives to put in geothermal. Did this mean that only commercial wells were subsidized? I eventually pointed out that I am working on a residential project.

The supervisor continued, “It pains me to say it, but we just don’t have a permit for it at this time. We have been lobbying for it, but we need to get a think tank to study it, create regulations that then have to be voted on by the state legislature and right now it is just not a priority.” The man went on to say how many wells are drilled every year in Rhode Island, only bolstering the case to add more focus on the issue from the state.

Again I was confused. “So all of those wells are commercial?”

“No, those are the residential ones.”

“Hold on. I thought you told me I couldn’t get a permit for a residential well.”

I could hear his smile on the phone as he said, “That is what I’m telling you. I’m not saying you can’t put in a geothermal well, I just don’t have any permit that oversees it. There is no regulation.”

I was awe-struck. The truth ended up being that, aside from a few individual municipalities, geothermal wells are completely unregulated for residential applications in the State of Rhode Island. There is no committee, no codes, no permits, no drawing submissions. As long as you are not drilling on a nature preserve or a sand dune, you are good to go. On one hand, this is great (especially for me). Putting in the well just got a little easier and the industry has plenty of room to grow in the state. On the other hand, it poses a few new potential problems.

Drilling 1,500 feet into the ground is not the same as paving a driveway or planting some landscaping. Any number of questionable situations could occur such as hitting infrastructural conduits or pipes, drilling into hazardous material or hitting underground aquifers. If the system was an open loop, then the temperature of other water ecosystems could be affected. Furthermore, there are Federal and State tax credits encouraging people to install these! Sure, there are some designers and contractors that may check for these things on their own, but that is not why we have laws. In something that could have direct impact on the surrounding environment and the people that occupy it, I am not sure I believe that the speedy process gained by no red tape is worth the risk generated by zero regulation.

The kicker for me was that if we were drilling the same well for drinking water then everyone is interested and the process is material (and rightly so). At least the state targeted the most precarious group of wells to watchdog first—a business installing an open loop system. In our efforts to strengthen methods and tools for implementing sustainability, we have to remember to weigh both sides of each opportunity and have the processes in place to safeguard against hazards as much as we promote the virtues.

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