Bill Text: HI HB181 | 2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Cesspools.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-17 - Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with Representative(s) Garcia, Ward voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Marten excused (1). [HB181 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2023-HB181-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
181 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to cesspools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The
legislature finds that the health of Hawaii's people and quality of Hawaii's
waters are being harmed by pollution from cesspools. Hawaii has more than eighty thousand
cesspools that discharge about fifty million gallons of wastewater into the
State's groundwater every day. Cesspools
are antiquated, substandard systems that damage public health; pollute drinking
water; and lower water quality in streams, ground waters, nearshore marine
areas, and the ocean. Cesspool pollution
also harms public recreation and the precious coral reefs on which Hawaii's
economy, shoreline, fisheries, and native species depend.
In Act 125, Session Laws of
Hawaii 2017, the legislature required that all cesspools be upgraded to a
septic system or aerobic treatment unit system or connected to a sewerage
system by 2050 and directed the department of health to develop a system to prioritize
the upgrade, conversion, or connection of cesspools based on their impact on
public health.
Furthermore, in Act 132,
Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, the legislature authorized the department of
health to establish the cesspool conversion working group to develop a
long-range, comprehensive plan for conversion of cesspools statewide by 2050
and consider and recommend means by which the department can ensure that
cesspools are converted to more environmentally-responsible waste treatment systems
or connected to sewer systems. The
legislature also commissioned a statewide study of sewage contamination in
nearshore marine areas to further supplement reports conducted by the
department of health on cesspools.
The legislature notes that
the cesspool conversion working group recently issued its final report to the
legislature. In its final report, the
working group indicated that over the past four years, it had gathered and
considered new scientific and policy data, studies by wastewater experts,
activities in other jurisdictions, owners' ability to pay, financing
mechanisms, and the latest technologies for treating wastewater. Based on this work, the working group
recommended ways to facilitate the upgrading of cesspools in Hawaii. The Hawaii cesspool hazard assessment and prioritization
tool was developed for the working group and applied to determine which
cesspools should be upgraded first.
The legislature further
finds that in its final report, the working group recommended staggering the upgrades
of cesspools and prioritizing them based on their environmental impact. Priority level 1 cesspools are those that
cause the most pollution and represent the greatest contamination hazard. The report categorized 13,821 cesspools in
the State as priority level 1. Priority level
2 cesspools are those cesspools that cause the next most pollution and
represent a significant contamination hazard.
The report categorized 12,367 cesspools in the State as priority level
2.
The working group
recommended, based on updated information about pollution impacts, that priority
level 1 cesspools be required to upgrade by 2030 and the next most-polluting
priority level 2 cesspools be required to upgrade by 2035. The working group recommended that the remaining
cesspools categorized as priority level 3 (55,237, or approximately sixty-nine
per cent of the total) not be required to upgrade until 2050, pursuant to existing
law.
Therefore, the purpose of
this Act is to implement the recommendation of the
working group to accelerate the dates for required upgrades, conversions, or
connections of priority level 1 cesspools and priority level 2 cesspools by
requiring:
(1) Priority level 1 cesspools to be upgraded, converted, or connected by 2030; and
(2) Priority level 2 cesspools to be upgraded, converted, or connected by 2035.
SECTION 2. Chapter 342D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as
follows:
"§342D- Cesspools;
mandatory upgrade, conversion, or connection; priority level 1; priority level
2. (a)
Notwithstanding section 342D-72, every cesspool in the State categorized
as priority level 1 according to the University of
Hawaii's 2021 Hawaii cesspool hazard assessment and prioritization tool shall be:
(1) Upgraded
or converted to a director-approved wastewater system; or
(2) Connected
to a sewerage system,
before January 1, 2030.
(b) Notwithstanding section 342D-72, every
cesspool in the State designated as priority level 2 according to the
University of Hawaii's 2021 Hawaii cesspool hazard assessment and
prioritization tool shall be:
(1) Upgraded
or converted to a director-approved wastewater system; or
(2) Connected
to a sewerage system,
before January 1, 2035.
(c) The director of health may grant exemptions
from the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) to property owners of
cesspools that apply for an exemption and present documentation showing a
legitimate reason that makes it infeasible to upgrade, convert, or connect the
cesspools. For the purposes of this
subsection, a legitimate reason shall include but not be limited to:
(1) Small lot size;
(2) Steep topography;
(3) Poor soils; or
(4) Accessibility issues.
(d) As used in this section, "cesspool"
has the same meaning as in section 342D‑72."
SECTION 3. Section 342D-72, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) [Before] Except as otherwise
provided in section 342D- , before January 1, 2050,
every cesspool in the State, excluding cesspools granted exemptions by the
director of health pursuant to subsection (b), shall be:
(1) Upgraded or converted to a director-approved wastewater system; or
(2) Connected to a sewerage system."
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Cesspools; Mandatory Upgrade, Conversion, or Connection; Cesspool Conversion Working Group; Prioritization
Description:
Implements the recommendation of the cesspool conversion working group to accelerate the dates for required upgrades, conversions, or connections of priority level 1 cesspools and priority level 2 cesspools by requiring priority level 1 cesspools to be upgraded, converted, or connected before 1/1/2030, and priority level 2 cesspools to be upgraded, converted, or connected before 1/1/2035, rather than before 1/1/2050.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
