Read the full stored bill text
HB1230
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
1230
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating
to UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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SECTION 1.
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The
legislature finds that Hawaii has been blessed with some of the purest water (wai)
on Earth.
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The islands' age, location in
the Pacific, geography, geology, and native ecosystems provide groundwater that
has been given purity index scores of over nine hundred.
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The
legislature also finds that the State's freshwater resources have also been
appropriately recognized as sacred and essential to all life, and the
protection and careful stewardship of Hawaii's wai has been a priority of kanaka
oiwi culture and governance since time immemorial.
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The
legislature further finds that the contamination of local groundwater and
drinking water sources with jet fuel from underground storage tanks must not be
tolerated.
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As emphasized by state and
county agency officials and elected leaders on Red Hill, and the Water Alliance
Initiative, any contamination must be fully remediated; there should be no
acceptable level of jet fuel in the State's precious and otherwise pure wai.
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The
purpose of this Act is to fully restore the environment, including drinking
water and groundwater, after any release of jet fuel from an underground
storage tank or tank system.
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SECTION
2
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Section 342L-35, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:
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�342L-35
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Response to suspected
or confirmed releases.
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(a)
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The department, pursuant to chapter 91, shall
adopt requirements for investigating a suspected release and taking action in
response to a confirmed release from an underground storage tank or tank
system, which shall include at least the following:
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(1)
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Requirement
that when a release is found, the substances in the tank or tank system be
emptied if emptying the substances does not present a greater danger to human
health or the environment;
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(2)
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Requirement
for proper closure of the tank or tank system, following the requirements
established under section 342L-37, or repair and testing of the tank or tank
system before placing it back into operation;
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(3)
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Requirement
that the owner and operator of the underground storage tank or tank system that
had a release restore the environment to a condition and quality acceptable to
the department[
;
]
, subject to subsection (b);
and
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(4)
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Requirement
to notify those members of the public directly affected by the release and the
proposed response to the release.
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(b)
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Restoration of the environment shall require
the cleanup and total removal of all jet fuel, including jet fuel additives and
all compounds resulting from the degradation of jet fuel or jet fuel additives,
or the reaction of jet fuel or jet fuel additives with water or other
chemicals.
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(c)
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It shall be a rebuttable presumption that the
detection of any amount of jet fuel, jet fuel additives, or compounds derived
from jet fuel or jet fuel additives in the environment or groundwater in the
vicinity of an underground storage tank or tank system, after a confirmed
release from an underground storage tank or tank system, is the result of the
confirmed release.
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SECTION 3.
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Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.
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New statutory material is underscored.
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SECTION 4.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
DOH;
Water Quality; Underground Storage Tanks and Tank Systems; Confirmed Release;
Environmental Restoration; Jet Fuel; Rules
Description:
Clarifies
the level of environmental restoration that owners and operators of underground
storage tanks or tank systems must satisfy in the event of a confirmed release
of jet fuel.
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Specifies the restoration
condition and quality acceptable by the Department of Health shall include the
complete removal of all jet fuel, including jet fuel additives and all
compounds resulting from the degradation of jet fuel or jet fuel additives, or
the reaction of jet fuel or jet fuel additives with water or other
chemicals.
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Establishes a rebuttable
presumption that any detection of these contaminants in the vicinity of an
underground storage tank or a tank system after a confirmed release is a result
of the confirmed release.
The summary description
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not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.