Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus
For the second yr in a row, a Bartholomew County lawmaker is asking the state to pay for a examine on the decommissioning and disposal of photo voltaic panels.
Senator Greg Walker, R-Columbus, stated that Senate Invoice 33 requires the Indiana Division of Environmental Administration (IDEM) and the Indiana Utility Regulatory Fee (IURC) to conduct a joint examine. If the senator’s invoice is authorised, the 2 businesses have a Nov. 1 to submit the report.
“I simply obtained the sense from the trade that there is not a robust aftermarket for processing used photo voltaic tools,” Walker stated. “In order photo voltaic tools turns into extra common, I wish to perceive that there are options that may be made to place used photo voltaic panels and associated tools in landfills.”
Walker stated his request is similar as final yr’s SB 403, including that there are extra issues that must be addressed.
“Whenever you begin among the projections of how a lot materials goes into the panels, it should be a major quantity {of electrical} and industrial waste after they full their life,” Walker stated.
Final yr’s SB403, which was then despatched to the Committee on Environmental Affairs, by no means made it to the Senate flooring for a full vote. This yr’s SB 33 is predicted to be despatched to the Senate Committee on Utilities. Walker was not assigned to that committee.
Walker stated he isn’t in opposition to photo voltaic vitality, including that he expects using photo voltaic fields and particular person house photo voltaic panels to develop because the trade turns into extra environment friendly and extra productive.
The explanation for requesting the examine was to keep away from a repeat of an earlier expertise, when Walker realized that underground gasoline storage tanks could possibly be a major environmental hazard, he stated.
Maybe probably the most memorable instance in south central Indiana was the extensively publicized 2004 collapse of Kiel Bros. Oil Co., leaving taxpayers on the hook for thousands and thousands of {dollars} for the cleanup. Greater than 85 contaminated websites in three states must be cleaned up, together with underground tanks that leak poisonous chemical substances into the bottom, streams and wells, in accordance with federal investigators.
However many corporations throughout the nation have related issues. In line with the US Environmental Safety Company, the cleansing of 568,981 tanks has been began all through the nation, whereas the restore has been accomplished in 509,091 tanks.
“There was no forethought about tips on how to handle these hazards (below the fuel tank),” Walker stated. “I need an estimate of how we are able to anticipate when the photo voltaic arrays run out of their life and cope with it proactively.”
To assist fund cleanups of storage tanks, Indiana has begun assessing the gasoline it incorporates, Walker stated.
When requested if photo voltaic panel clients could possibly be charged the identical set up price, Walker stated he wasn’t certain proper now.
“There’s potential for that,” Walker stated. “That is regardless of the examine finds.”
Walker additionally requested that the examine embrace greatest practices for disposal or recycling of photo voltaic panels and associated elements.
It is too early to inform whether or not SB33 will obtain stronger help than final yr, Walker stated. Each the Home and the Senate could also be involved with extra fast issues that end in pushing the invoice, Walker defined.
“That is what at all times occurs if you attempt to look 20 years down the street,” stated the lawmaker. “The potential fallout is many years away, and it is troublesome to lift rates of interest. It is also a funds session, so now we have loads of distractions.
This story by Mark Webber was shared from The (Columbus) Republic, a sister newspaper of the Each day Journal.
