SB2653.DOC

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii's streams, groundwaters, and ocean are being harmed by water pollution from nonpoint sources, such as stormwater and sewage from cesspools, that flow off the land directly rather than through pipes or ditches. Public recreation is harmed by such nonpoint source pollution and the frequent "brownwater advisories" that follow heavy rain events. Nonpoint source pollution may also be harming coral reefs and native species.

The legislature further finds that cesspool owners pay no fees for the pollution that they place in the public's surface waters and groundwater, whereas those who are served by sewers pay substantial fees, averaging up to $100 per month on Oahu.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Improve the State's ability to control and reduce water pollution from cesspools and other nonpoint sources;

(2) Offer financial assistance for low-income cesspool owners upgrading to septic systems or connecting to sewers;

(3) Establish an interim cesspool operating fee; and

(4) Require the director of health to set cesspool operating fees by rule within five years.

SECTION 2. Chapter 342D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding three new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§342D-A Revolving fund; water pollution control account. (a) There is established within the water pollution control revolving fund established under section 342D-83 a separate account to be designated as the water pollution control account, into which shall be deposited:

(1) All revenues generated from the interim fees established under section 342D-B and fees authorized by rules adopted pursuant to section 342D-B;

(2) Any moneys appropriated from the general revenues of the State for purposes established in subsection (b); and

(3) All interest earned or accrued on moneys deposited in the water pollution control account.

(b) The moneys in the water pollution control account shall be expended by the department for the following purposes:

(1) Controlling and reducing pollution from point sources, nonpoint sources, individual wastewater systems, and cesspools;

(2) Preparing generally applicable rules or guidelines;

(3) Implementing and enforcing the terms and conditions of any rules, permits, waivers, and department-approved plans;

(4) Monitoring discharges and water quality in state waters;

(5) Performing or reviewing modeling, analyses, and demonstrations;

(6) Conducting the nonpoint and cesspool outreach program pursuant to section 342D-C;

(7) Providing financial assistance to low-income cesspool owners, as the director may define by rule, connecting to a sewer or upgrading to a septic system; and

(8) Administering the water pollution control account.

§342D-B Fees. (a) Until superseded by operating fees established by the director pursuant to subsection (b), the interim cesspool monthly operating fees shall equal approximately ten per cent of the average existing monthly residential sewer fees for each county, as follows:

(1) County of Hawaii $3 per month;

(2) County of Kauai $5 per month;

(3) County of Maui $6 per month; and

(4) City and county of Honolulu $9 per month.

The director shall determine in consultation with each county the most efficient way to collect these interim fees. Counties that collect fees pursuant to this section shall timely remit the fees, minus reasonable collection charges, for deposit to the credit of the water pollution control account established under section 342D-A.

(b) No later than June 30, 2019, the director shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 establishing operating fees for owners of cesspools and determining how these fees shall be collected.

§342D-C Nonpoint and cesspool outreach program and assistance. The director shall establish an outreach program to provide information on controlling nonpoint source pollution, including providing cesspool owners with information on sewer connections and upgrades to individual wastewater systems and opportunities for financial assistance for sewer connections and upgrades to individual wastewater systems."

SECTION 3. Section 342D-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding five new definitions to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

""Cesspool" means an individual wastewater system consisting of an excavation in the ground whose depth is greater than its widest surface dimension, which receives untreated wastewater, and retains or is designed to retain the organic matter and solids discharging therein, but permits the liquid to seep through its bottom or sides to gain access to the underground formation.

"Individual wastewater systems" means facilities, including cesspools, septic systems, and aerobic treatment units, that are not connected to a sewer and are used and designed to receive and dispose of:

(1) No more than one thousand gallons per day of domestic wastewater; or

(2) Greater than one thousand gallons of domestic wastewater with a variance.

"Nonpoint source pollution" means water pollution that does not originate from a point source.

"Point source pollution" means pollution from any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft from which pollutants are or may be discharged. "Point source pollution" does not include agricultural stormwater discharges and return flows from irrigated agriculture.

"Septic system" means an individual wastewater system that usually consists of a septic tank, piping, and a drainage field where there is natural biological decontamination as it is filtered through soil."

SECTION 4. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

SECTION 5. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2014.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2653
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII