STAND. COM. REP. NO. 579

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1634

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1634 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the issuance of $20,000,000 in general obligation bonds to the City and County of Honolulu for the planning, design, and construction of two groundwater aquifer monitoring wells.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, and 350Hawaii.org.

Your Committee finds that multiple recent releases of jet fuel and other chemicals from the United States Department of the Navy's Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility have negatively impacted the environment and the safety of drinking water in the City and County of Honolulu. A Department of Health analysis showed that the fuel contamination could travel away from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility toward different geological locations, including existing Honolulu Board of Water Supply wells. This measure is necessary to address any threats to the public health and environment of the State by constructing monitoring wells to assess any immediate and future risks and to inform trend and directional analyses necessary for any remediation planning.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the purpose of the general obligation bonds to fund the planning, design, and construction of up to six, rather than two, groundwater aquifer monitoring wells, including the establishment of a sentinel monitoring grid;

(2) Inserting an effective date of May 13, 2040, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1634, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1634, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs,

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GLENN WAKAI, Chair