THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

471

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that protecting the State's nearshore waters is important for ecosystem resilience and public health.  Clean nearshore waters that are free of pollutants support coral reef systems that are critical to Hawaii's fisheries.  A 2023 study published in the scientific journal Nature found that coral reefs protected from land-based pollutants, especially from wastewater pollutants, are better able to recover from ocean-warming events.

     Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require newly installed or modified individual wastewater systems that are near the shoreline, or likely to pollute groundwater, to include denitrification capacity.

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

     "§342D-     Individual wastewater systems; denitrification capacity.  (a)  Each individual wastewater system that is newly installed or modified shall have denitrification capacity if:

     (1)  The wastewater system is located two hundred feet or less from a shoreline; or

     (2)  The wastewater system is located at or below one thousand five hundred feet above sea level and:

          (A)  The substrate is less than five thousand years old; and

          (B)  The soil has low nutrient holding capacity, low shrink and swell characteristics, and very fast permeability, based on the Hawaii soil atlas.

     (b)  For the purposes of this section, "denitrification capacity" means being certified to meet the guidelines of the National Sanitation Foundation and American National Standards Institute standard 245 for on-site residential wastewater treatment."

     SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

 

By Request

 

 

 

Report Title:

Hawaii State Association of Counties Package; Environment; Individual Wastewater Systems; Nearshore Waters; Denitrification Capacity

 

Description:

Requires newly installed or modified individual wastewater systems that are near the shoreline, or likely to pollute groundwater, to include denitrification capacity.

 

 

 

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