STAND. COM. REP. 3417

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.C.R. No. 185

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Energy and Environment and Health, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 185 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING IMMEDIATE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ALTERNATIVE RULES UNDER THE FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT'S LEAD AND COPPER RULE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to urge the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to:

(1) Develop and implement alternative rules immediately under the Lead and Copper Rules;

(2) Provide an option to identify and remove sources of contaminants when it has been demonstrated that the additives have not been effective in controlling the problem;

(3) Alter its methods and standards of sampling schemes to include a higher level of detail and accuracy;

(4) Allow for a contingency plan should all other routine recommendations for additives fail and allow a process for feedback of empirical data regarding the effectiveness of additives;

(5) Monitor lead action levels carefully, even after the onset of the recommended additive intervention;

(6) Establish a mechanism to terminate the utilization of additives when the water supply has dropped below the 15 parts per billion action level;

(7) Manage all water systems on a case by case basis in order to assess the varying environmental conditions at the local level; and

(8) Study its criteria carefully that allows brass in plumbing fixtures, to ensure that no lead is leached into drinking water.

Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by six members of the Maui County Council. The Director of Health submitted comments on the measure.

Your Committees find that the residents of upcountry Maui are in dire need of a reliable and safe source of drinking water being restored in the area. While supporting the USEPA's review of its drinking water rules, the Director of Health offered several clarifying amendments regarding the nature of the State's public water systems and surface water sources.

Your Committees amended the measure by incorporating the following clarifying changes suggested by the Director of Health to state that:

(1) Approximately 9.3% of Hawaii's population serviced by public water systems, receive drinking water that is derived completely or partially from surface water sources;

(2) The upcountry Maui region relies primarily upon surface water;

(3) The Makawao, Upper and Lower Kula water systems of the upcountry Maui region have not been in consistent compliance with the USEPA's safe drinking water standards; and

(4) C-9 and the other corrosion control additives are NSF/ANSI Standard 60 certified drinking water treatment chemicals that have been widely used elsewhere without any problems, and it is not known what is specifically causing the ailments being experienced in upcountry Maui.

Your Committees further amended the measure by making the following clarifying changes to state that:

(1) The use of additives to control the leaching of lead has been consistently or universally ineffective;

(2) The Makawao, Upper and Lower Kula water systems have not been in consistent compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule; and

(3) The USEPA is requested to study its criteria regarding lead-containing brass in plumbing fixtures.

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 concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 185, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 185, S.D. 1.

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

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ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

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J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair