HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

130

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AND STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO PURSUE A GLOBAL SETTLEMENT OF OUTSTANDING WASTEWATER ISSUES WITH THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU.

 

 

 


WHEREAS, the counties are responsible for constructing, operating, and maintaining the public wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal systems under the oversight and regulation of the Department of Health and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and

 

WHEREAS, the EPA issued to the City and County of Honolulu (C&C) on March 28, 2007, a tentative denial of a 301(h) waiver for the Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant; and

 

WHEREAS, the tentative denial was issued almost 12 years after the C&C applied for the waiver; and

 

WHEREAS, the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, the Honorable Mufi Hannemann, deemed the tentative denial “unreasonable, unfair, unnecessary, untimely and more than the taxpayers of Honolulu can afford;” and

 

     WHEREAS, the Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant operates with a 301(h) waiver from the EPA and continues to provide primary treatment and secondary treatment; and

 

     WHEREAS, the C&C expects the EPA to issue its tentative denial of the 301(h) waiver for the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in the fall of this year; and

 

     WHEREAS, Mayor Hannemann and several prominent experts in the community, including scientists and engineers have stated that there is no scientific evidence that the Honouliuli or Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant needs to provide any more treatment than they currently provide; and

 

     WHEREAS, Mayor Hannemann’s administration has been working earnestly, in good faith, with the EPA and the state Department of Health (DOH) on a $300 million program of accelerated improvements to the most vulnerable part of Honolulu’s wastewater system, the collection system, which includes six critical force mains; and

 

     WHEREAS, the C&C has committed to almost a billion dollars in sewer work during Mayor Hannemann’s first three years in office, to be funded by sewer fees that have already been increased and will be increased yet again to finance the force main work; and 

 

     WHEREAS, C&C officials estimate the denial of a 301(h) waiver for Honouliuli will require another $400 million in construction at that facility and a similar denial of a waiver for the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant would require an additional $800 million in construction at that facility; and

 

     WHEREAS, C&C officials estimate those denials could drive monthly residential sewer fees to $300 within 20 years to fund those improvements; and

 

     WHEREAS, almost three-fourths of the State of Hawaii’s resident population resides within the C&C; and

 

     WHEREAS, United States Senator Daniel K. Inouye and other members of Hawaii’s Congressional delegation have urged the EPA to work with the C&C to reach a global settlement of all wastewater issues; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED that the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii strongly urges the DOH to assist the C&C in persuading the EPA to renew the 301(h) waivers for the Honouliuli and Sand Island wastewater treatment plants; and


     BE IT RESOLVED that the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii requests the Department of Health to review its water quality standards as they relate to deep ocean marine discharges; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii joins Mayor Hannemann, Senator Inouye, and others in petitioning the EPA to renew the 301(h) waivers for the Honouliuli and Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plants; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, demands that the DOH take every action within its authority to work with the C&C and the EPA to arrive at a “global settlement” that addresses Honolulu’s wastewater issues in a comprehensive, feasible manner; and

  

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawaii, the Director of the Department of Health, and the Regional Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, and members of Hawaii’s Congressional delegation.

Report Title: