Electrical Board opposes water pump legislation

COEUR d’ALENE — The Idaho Electrical Board voted unanimously Monday to oppose legislation that would allow the continued use of submersible pumps — which the state is phasing out — until new technology can be found to replace them.

Bill Hatch, spokesman for the Idaho Division of Building Safety, said Jeremy Pisca, who represents several North Idaho clients — including the Hagadone Corporation which owns The Press — presented a bill that would exempt submersible pump users from three portions of Idaho Code for a period of two years while new technology can be found to replace the pumps.

“The reason the board voted that way is because the legislation would do away with three sections of the (electric) code,” Hatch said. “The bill wants to remove the applicable portions of that code.”

Earlier this year the IDBS announced it would start phasing out the use of submersible well pumps in open water lakes and rivers due to the risk of electric shock.

Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, is working with Pisca to get some sort of grace period to find and certify a submersible pump that could be used to replace the well pumps instead of having to build land-based pump stations to replace them.

“They all voted to oppose the legislation,” Nonini said. “They would rather do something through negotiated rulemaking.”

Nonini said after discussing the situation with Pisca, they have decided to go ahead and attempt to pass legislation that would give them the grace period needed to resolve the electric shock risks.

“We just think we need a little more certainty than we would get through negotiated rulemaking,” he said. Hatch said after the board voted to oppose the bill, it instructed the IDBS staff to develop a white paper that details how submersible pumps can be installed safely.

“If someone manufactured a submersible pump safely, the board would support that,” Hatch said.