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SB238
THE SENATE
S.B. NO.
238
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING
TO WASTEWATER SYSTEMS
.
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
cesspools are contaminating the
State's groundwater, streams, drinking water, and coastal ecosystems.
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Maintaining the cleanliness of the State's
waters is a matter of statewide concern
that falls under the
legislature's obligation to enact laws pursuant to article XI, section 7,
of the Hawaii State Constitution.
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To
address the State's cesspool pollution, Act 125, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017,
required all cesspools to be upgraded or converted to a septic system or
aerobic treatment unit system or connected to a sewerage system before January
1, 2050, with certain exemptions.
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Act
125 also directed the department of health to investigate the number, scope,
and location of cesspools that required upgrade, conversion, or connection
based on their impact on public health.
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Additionally, Act 132, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, established the
cesspool conversion working group to develop a long-range, comprehensive plan
for the conversion of cesspools statewide by 2050 and commissioned a statewide
study of sewage contamination in nearshore marine areas to further supplement
studies and reports conducted by the department of health on cesspools.
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The cesspool conversion working group's 2021
Hawaii cesspool hazard assessment and prioritization tool report identified
three prioritization categories:
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priority levels 1, 2, and 3.
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Priority level 1 cesspools have the greatest potential to impact human
health and are directly adjacent to sensitive natural resources; priority level
2 cesspools pose a significant hazard to human health and may be close to
sensitive natural resources; and priority level 3 cesspools have an impact on
human health but may be further away from sensitive natural resources.
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The
2021 Hawaii cesspool hazard assessment and prioritization tool report also
noted that the geographic coverage of their evaluation only extended across the
four main Hawaiian islands.
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It further
noted that even though the islands of Molokai, Lanai, and Niihau were also
impacted by cesspools, these islands were not included in several key datasets
necessary for its analysis.
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Thus, the
authors of the 2021 Hawaii Cesspool Hazard Assessment and Prioritization Tool,
2021 Report and Technical Appendices, recommended that a ranking system for
these islands also be established.
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The
legislature further finds that the following communities were labeled as
priority level 1 areas by the 2021 Hawaii cesspool hazard assessment and
prioritization tool report:
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Haleiwa,
Waimanalo Beach-Homesteads, Hauula-Kaaawa, Makua Valley, Judd Hillside-Lowery
Avenue, Waimea-Kahuku, Laie, Kawailoa, Campbell High School, Kaena Point,
Kalaheo Avenue, Waianae Kai, and Nanakuli on Oahu; Halama, Kamaole, Kahoma,
Keawakapu, Kapalua, Launiupoko, and Spreckelsville on Maui; Holualoa, Kailua,
and Kawaihae-Waikoloa on Hawaii island; and Haena‑Hanalei, Kekaha-Waimea,
and Wailua Homesteads on Kauai.
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In these
areas where homes are not connected to wastewater systems or are too remote to
be connected to existing infrastructure, new wastewater technologies and
solutions are necessary to transition away from environmentally hazardous
cesspools.
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The
legislature additionally finds that, according to recent shoreline erosion
management plans, south Molokai has the highest concentration of Hawaiian
homestead residential lots located directly on the coast, having approximately
fifty lots within two and a half miles of noncontiguous shoreline.
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For Molokai as a whole, the Molokai Health
Center reports that forty per cent of the population relies on subsistence
farming, hunting, and fishing, which means that having a clean and healthy reef
and nearshore environment is crucial for the health of the community,
especially the Native Hawaiian community.
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The coastal plain of south Molokai is underlain by underground rivers of
fresh water flowing mauka to makai that affect the fringing reef, an important
food source for Native Hawaiians residing on Molokai.
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A United States Geological Survey report
concluded that further inquiry into the range of nutrient sources to
groundwater and nutrient concentrations reaching the coast in groundwater
discharge will aid in future planning and resource management.
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Molokai coastal homesteaders will be
financially challenged to convert cesspools to more modern individual
wastewater systems, as the median annual household income averaged over the
three department of Hawaiian home lands coastal communities was $42,396 in
2019, according to the American Community Survey of 2019.
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The
legislature additionally finds that new wastewater management solutions could
greatly improve public health.
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Technologies that are reaching a commercial scale for the first time
include solutions for individual homes, as well as multi-unit dwellings,
apartment buildings, and entire communities.
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Large wastewater management systems can remove sewage from multi-unit
dwellings and apartment buildings.
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At
the municipal scale, these technologies can effectively treat sewage from
entire communities for a small fraction of the cost of existing technology now
employed in Hawaii.
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Self-contained,
self-powered, and self-cleaning toilets can be used in homes that do not have
the capacity to connect to the existing sewer infrastructure.
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For example, the Puu Opae Kuleana Homestead
Settlement Plan, which will offer two hundred fifty homestead lots in Waimea,
Kauai, does not include a centralized wastewater service or public water
system, and the nearest wastewater treatment plant is more than four miles away
and thus could benefit from new
wastewater
solutions.
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The Anahola Kuleana Homestead
Settlement Plan, which will offer one hundred fifteen homestead lots in
Kawaihau, Kauai, will similarly benefit from new wastewater solutions.
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The
purpose of this Act is to:
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(1)
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Appropriate funds to implement a
three-year new wastewater system and individual wastewater system technology
demonstration and implementation pilot program within the university of Hawaii at
Manoa water resources research center to review, examine, and demonstrate new
wastewater technology systems; implement those technologies in wastewater
system demonstration projects; and establish prioritization categories similar
to those established in the Hawaii cesspool hazard assessment and
prioritization tool for the islands of Molokai, Lanai, and Niihau; and
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(2)
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Appropriate funds for positions within
the wastewater branch of the department of health's environmental management
division.
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SECTION 2.
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(a)
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There is established a
three-year new wastewater system and individual wastewater system technology
demonstration and implementation pilot program within the university of Hawaii at
Manoa water resources research center.
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(b)
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The university of Hawaii at Manoa water
resources research center, in coordination with the university of Hawaii at
Manoa sea grant college program and in consultation with the department of
health, department of Hawaiian home lands, university of Hawaii college of
engineering, and all appropriate county agencies, shall:
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(1)
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Examine and demonstrate new wastewater
and cesspool technology systems, ranging from individual toilets to
significantly larger multi-unit systems and options for community-scale
solutions as appropriate, and review and evaluate the affordability, feasibility,
and efficiency of the treatment technologies;
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(2)
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Administer not less than four cesspool
system demonstration projects implementing new toilet and sewage treatment
technologies; provided that each project shall include a cesspool in an area
designated as priority level 1 by the 2021 Hawaii Cesspool Hazard Assessment and
Prioritization Tool
, 2021 Report and Technical
Appendices
; provided further that there shall be not less than one
project in each county; provided further that there shall be not less than one
project on the island of Molokai;
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(3)
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Document, validate, and summarize the various
tests, research, and outcomes of each cesspool system demonstration project;
and
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(4)
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Establish a ranking system similar to
the prioritization categories established in the 2021 Hawaii Cesspool Hazard
Assessment and Prioritization Tool
, 2021 Report and Technical
Appendices,
for the islands of Molokai, Lanai, and Niihau.
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(c)
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The university of Hawaii at Manoa water
resources research center shall submit an annual interim report to the
legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular
session for the duration of the pilot program and a final report to the
legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular
session of 2029.
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The reports shall
include:
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(1)
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Information on the new wastewater and
cesspool technology systems reviewed and implemented;
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(2)
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The number of cesspools converted
pursuant to the pilot program;
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(3)
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The costs incurred to convert each
cesspool;
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(4)
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Recommendations on how to improve the
efficiency of the pilot program;
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(5)
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Whether the pilot program should be
made permanent; and
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(6)
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Any other recommendations that the
university of Hawaii at Manoa water resources research center deems
appropriate.
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(d)
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The pilot program shall cease to exist on
June 30, 2028.
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SECTION 3.
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There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii
the sum of $ or so
much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same sum or
so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 to implement the
new wastewater system and individual wastewater system technology demonstration
and implementation pilot program established pursuant to this Act.
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The sums
appropriated shall be expended by the university of Hawaii for the
purposes of this Act.
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SECTION 4.
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There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii
the sum of:
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(1)
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$
or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same
sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 to fund
full-time equivalent (
FTE) engineer V (SR-26) position within the wastewater branch of the department
of health's environmental management division; and
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(2)
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$
or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same
sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 to
establish full-time equivalent
( FTE) engineer IV (SR-24) position within the wastewater
branch of the department of health's environmental management division,
to support
the approval of individual wastewater systems applications and the new
wastewater system and individual wastewater system technology demonstration and
implementation pilot program established pursuant to this Act.
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The sums appropriated shall be expended by
the department of health for the purposes of this Act.
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SECTION 5.
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This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
UH; DOH; Water Resources Research Center; New Wastewater
System and Individual Wastewater System Technology Demonstration and
Implementation Pilot Program; Reports; Positions; Appropriations
Description:
Establishes
and appropriates funds for a three-year New Wastewater System and Individual Wastewater
System Technology Demonstration and Implementation Pilot Program within the
University of Hawaii at Manoa Water Resources Research Center.
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Requires the University of Hawaii at Manoa Water
Resource Research Center to submit reports to the Legislature.
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Appropriates funds.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.