STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1031

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 903

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Energy and Environment and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 903, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WATER POLLUTION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Improve the State's ability to control and reduce water pollution from nonpoint sources and individual wastewater systems; and

     (2)  Require the director of Health to establish by rule fees to fund programs that reduce pollution from nonpoint sources and operating fees for owners of individual wastewater systems.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; Office of Planning; Department of Land and Natural Resources; University of Hawaii, Environmental Center; Keep the Hawaiian Islands Beautiful; International Coastal Cleanup; Sierra Club; Surfrider Foundation; Sustainable Coastlines; Bear Engineering; and five individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Puna Soil and Water Conservation District; Hawaii Crop Improvement Association; General Contractors Association; Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation; Pacific Resource Partnership; Hawaii Cattleman's Council; Maui County Farm Bureau; Hawaii Agricultural Research Center; Building Industry Association – Hawaii; Hawaii Aquaculture and Aquaponics Association; Alexander and Baldwin; Palani Ranch Company; Ulupalakua Ranch; McCandless Ranch; Ponoholo Ranch; Big Island Dairy; Ka‘ala Ranch; and eight individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture.

     Your Committees find that Hawaii's fresh, marine, and ground waters are being harmed by water pollution from many sources, including nonpoint stormwater discharges from agriculture and other lands as well as individual wastewater systems, which are facilities, including cesspools, septic systems, and aerobic treatment units, that are not connected to a sewer.  Runoff from agriculture and other lands is polluted with soil, fertilizers, pesticides, and other wastes that harm state waters, coral reefs, and public recreation with the frequently required "brownwater advisories" that follow heavy rain events.  Your Committees find that the reasonable regulation of nonpoint source water pollution is essential to protecting Hawaii's unique and fragile water resources and attendant ecosystems.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying its purpose section;

     (2)  Excluding agricultural irrigation systems from the mandatory filing of management plan applications pursuant to this measure;

     (3)  Specifying that a management plan application does not need to be filed prior to discharging any water pollutant into state waters from an individual wastewater system;

     (4)  Removing the authorization for farming operations or landowners with a soil conservation plan or stormwater management plan to submit such plans for review by the Director of Health;

     (5)  Removing beyond July 1, 2018, rather than until July 1, 2018; violations of any standards of performance for specific areas and types of discharges in the control of water pollution as grounds for enforcement under this measure;

     (6)  Exempting farming operations from fees assessed under this measure;

     (7)  Removing the definition of "standard of performance" that would have been inserted in section 342E-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

     (8)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy and Environment and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 903, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 903, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy and Environment and Health,

____________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair

____________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair