By TOM CALLIS
By TOM CALLIS
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The Hawaii Environmental Council will consider loosening regulations on geothermal exploration Thursday.
The proposed rule changes, requested by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, would add exploratory leases, exploratory well drilling, and “noninvasive” geothermal exploration to the list of activities not required to have an environmental impact statement.
The document acts as an assessment of a proposed project’s impact on the environment, economy, social welfare and cultural practices of a community.
DLNR Chairman William Aila said an EIS, which can take up to two years to complete, is a “significant roadblock” to geothermal production.
“The idea behind the exemption is really to reduce the amount of time and the amount of permitting necessary to probe,” he said.
Aila said the state has no history of exploratory wells, which are 2-4 inches in diameter but are also thousands of feet deep, causing an environmental problem.
“The potential is always there,” he acknowledged. “But it’s minimal. It’s statistically minimal.”
The proposal comes during a renewed focus on geothermal power, including additional development on the Big Island.
If approved, the exemptions could prompt a legal challenge from the Pele Defense Fund.
PDF attorney James Dombroski said the group believes any exemptions would violate a 1995 settlement between geothermal opponents and the state.
The settlement says the state cannot “undertake, initiate, or instigate” a large-scale geothermal project unless an EIS is used.
“It applies pretty broadly to anything geothermal related,” he said.
Aila disagrees.
“Our position is that settlement describes production,” he said, “and in this case we’re talking exploration.”
PDF President Palikapu Dedman said the group would likely file a lawsuit if the exemptions are approved.
“I think we’re going to go at it again,” he said.
His group, which sees use of geothermal power as an insult to the goddess Pele, will submit testimony for the meeting.
Having an EIS allows the group to submit its cultural objections to a project.
But Dedman said he is also concerned about environmental impacts.
“We are so unique, these islands, we need some sort of rules to protect the uniqueness,” he said.
The exemptions would not apply to sensitive areas or urban and conservation land use districts.
Activities can be exempt if they are considered to be minor or routine.
Aila said drilling a geothermal exploratory well isn’t much different than drilling for water, which has EIS exemptions.
A subcommittee of the council is recommending approval of the proposed exemptions.
The subcommittee had one vote against the exemption for exploratory wells.
That vote came from Gary Hooser, Office of Environmental Quality Control director, who also sits on the council as an ex-officio member.
“I was concerned that drilling a mile into the Earth’s crust might have some impact, given the history of geothermal in our state,” he said.
Hooser said he voted for the other two proposed exemptions “because I felt they are very benign acts and there definitely would be no significant impacts on the environment.”
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.