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SB2753
THE SENATE
S.B. NO.
2753
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating
to the environment
.
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 protecting the State's nearshore waters is important for
public health and ecosystem resilience.
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Clean nearshore waters free of pollutants support the coral reef systems
that are critical for protecting the State's shoreline, healthy recreation, and
fisheries.
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Coral reefs that are
protected from land-based pollutants, especially from wastewater pollutants,
are better able to recover from ocean-warming events.
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Many conventional individual wastewater
systems release nitrogen pollution into the groundwater that can be harmful to
coral reefs, especially in areas with highly porous soils.
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Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to
require:
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(1)
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Newly
installed or modified individual wastewater systems that are near the shoreline
or on highly porous soils to include denitrification capacity; and
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(2)
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The
department of health to reduce requirements for leach fields and wastewater
systems with denitrification capacity.
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SECTION 2.
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Chapter 342D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new
section to part III to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
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�342D-
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Individual
wastewater systems; denitrification capacity.
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(a)
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Beginning July 1, 2027, each
individual wastewater system that is newly installed or modified shall have
denitrification capacity if the wastewater system is located within two hundred
feet from a shoreline.
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(b)
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Beginning July 1, 2027, each individual
wastewater system that is newly installed or modified in counties with a
population greater than one hundred ninety thousand and less than eight hundred
thousand shall have denitrification capacity if the wastewater system is
located within twelve hundred feet from a shoreline in an area with highly
porous substrate as shown on the United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resource Conservation Service's Web Soil Survey or the state geographic
information system program.
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(c)
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The department shall provide appropriate
reductions in leach field and other requirements for systems with
denitrification capacity.
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(d)
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For the purposes of this section:
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"Denitrification
capacity" means certified to meet the guidelines of the National
Sanitation Foundation and American National Standards Institute Standard 245
for residential wastewater treatment systems-nitrogen reduction, with a minimum
fifty per cent reduction in nitrogen.
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"Highly
porous substrate" means soil with a porosity over seventy-five per cent.
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"Shoreline"
means the highest wash of high tide waves as determined in a certification by
the department of land and natural resources.
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SECTION 3.
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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;
Individual Wastewater Systems; Nearshore Waters; Shorelines; Denitrification
Capacity
Description:
Beginning
7/1/2027, requires newly installed or modified individual wastewater systems
that are near the shoreline or on highly porous soils to include
denitrification capacity.
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Requires the Department
of Health to provide appropriate reductions in requirements to leach fields and
wastewater systems with denitrification capacity.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.