U.S. creates geothermal working guide and regulatory roadmap
Drilling rig on The Geysers project site of Western GeoPower (probably around 2007/ 2008) (source: Western GeoPower)
Alexander Richter
12 Jun 2013
The Geothermal Regulatory Roadmap Team, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Geothermal Technology Program, is developing a working guide for agency, industry and policymaker use to streamline regulatory processes to help spead up development.
The (U.S.) Geothermal Regulatory Roadmap (GRR) Team has been working since April 2012 with federal, state and local agencies to develop a working guide for agency, industry and policymaker use in an effort to understand regulatory processes and timelines and identify potential areas of concern.
The project is sponsored by the DOE Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO). The roadmapping initiative covers the eight western states, including California, Nevada, Hawai’i, Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Oregon, and Montana. The roadmap is being developed at the federal and state levels, allowing for future expansion to the local (county) level.
Development of the roadmap for two additional states (Colorado and Texas) is underway for Fiscal Year 2013. Initial documents of the initiative have now been published, link see below.
The roadmap will – so the plan – help facilitate collaboration between the different federal and state agencies, speed up the review process for proposed projects, and increase efficient and responsible regulatory evaluation.
Documents, descriptions and explanations can be found via Open Energy Info (see link below). An interesting write up about the project can be found via The Energy Collective.
Source: Open Energy Info (OpenEI)
