HB748 • 2026

RELATING TO WASTE OR DISPOSAL FACILITIES.

Water

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: QUINLAN, AMATO, GRANDINETTI, IWAMOTO, KAPELA, LA CHICA, LOWEN, OLDS, PERRUSO, PIERICK, POEPOE, SHIMIZU, SOUZA, TODD, WARD
Last action: 2025-12-08
Official status: Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details about the exact impact of reducing buffer zones on public health and safety, nor does it specify penalties for violating rules regarding significant aquifers.

Rules for Waste Disposal Sites Near Water Sources

This bill stops the building, changing, or growing of waste disposal sites near important underground water sources and reduces the space needed around these sites.

What This Bill Does

Prohibits construction, modification, or expansion of any waste or disposal facility on land that is above a significant aquifer as determined by the Department of Health.
Reduces the required buffer zone around waste or disposal facilities to one-quarter mile.

Who It Names or Affects

People and organizations that want to build or expand waste disposal facilities.
The Department of Health, which decides if land is above a significant aquifer.
Existing waste disposal facility operators who need to follow new rules about buffer zones.

Terms To Know

significant aquifer: An important underground water source that supplies drinking water or supports ecosystems.
buffer zone: A space around a waste disposal site to protect nearby areas from pollution or other harmful effects.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify what happens if someone violates the rules about building near significant aquifers.
It is unclear how reducing buffer zones will affect public health and safety.

Bill History

2025-12-08 D
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
2025-01-21 H
Referred to EEP, WAL, JHA, referral sheet 2
2025-01-21 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
2025-01-17 H
Pending introduction.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO WASTE OR DISPOSAL FACILITIES.
Waste or Disposal Facilities; Significant Aquifers; Buffer Zones
Prohibits the construction, modification, or expansion of any waste or disposal facility on land that is near or above a significant aquifer as determined by the Department of Health. Reduces the required buffer zone around waste or disposal facilities.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB748

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

748

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to waste or disposal facilities
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION
1
.
�
Section 342H-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

����
"
�342H-52
�
Prohibitions; buffer zones.
�
(a)
�
No
person, including any federal agency, the State, or any county, shall
construct, operate, modify, expand, or close a municipal
solid waste landfill unit, or any component of a municipal solid waste landfill
unit, without first obtaining a permit from the director
.
�
All permits for municipal solid waste
landfill units shall be subject to any terms and conditions that the director
determines are necessary to protect human health or the environment.

����
(b)
�

No person, including the State or county, shall construct, modify, or
expand a waste or disposal facility, including a municipal solid waste landfill
unit; any component of a municipal solid waste landfill unit; a construction
and demolition landfill unit; or any component of a construction and demolition
landfill unit on land that is above a significant aquifer as determined by the
department.

����
[
(b)
]
(c)
�
No person, including the State or any county,
shall construct, modify, or expand a waste or disposal facility including a
municipal solid waste landfill unit, any component of a municipal solid waste
landfill unit, a
construction and demolition landfill
unit
, or any component of a construction and demolition landfill unit
without first establishing a buffer zone of no less than [
one-half
]
one
quarter
mile around the waste or disposal facility.
�
This subsection shall not apply to the
continued operation of an existing waste or disposal
facility that is properly permitted; provided that continued operation does not
require physical expansion, vertical or horizontal, of the facility requiring
additional permitting review and a permit modification
.

����
For the purposes of this subsection:

����
"Buffer zone" means
the
distance between the edge of waste or waste activity and the nearest
residential, school, or hospital property line.

����
"Waste or disposal
facility" excludes individual, state certified, non-industrial redemption
centers."

����
SECTION
2.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.

����
SECTION 3.
�
This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Waste or
Disposal Facilities; Significant Aquifers; Buffer Zones

Description:

Prohibits
the construction, modification, or expansion of any waste or disposal facility
on land that is near or above a significant aquifer as determined by the Department
of Health.
�
Reduces the required buffer
zone around waste or disposal facilities.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.