STAND. COM. REP. NO. 509

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.B. No. 1511

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water & Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 1511 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriates funds as a grant-in-aid to the Board of Water Supply of the City and County of Honolulu to plan, design, and construct seven monitoring wells and an exploratory well on Oahu.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that this measure is needed to address the unprecedented contamination of Oahu's supply of drinking water from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and other releases of hazardous substances that pose imminent threats to public health and the environment.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing its effective date to June 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee respectfully requests that your Committee on Finance, should it choose to deliberate on this measure, consider an appropriation amount of $10,000,000, as requested by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, and also consider including provisions to seek federal reimbursement for this cost.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water & Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1511, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1511, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water & Land,

____________________________

LINDA ICHIYAMA, Chair