Report Title:

Detention and Retention Ponds

 

Description:

Establishes a temporary water safety task force to examine the danger of retention ponds.  Effective 07/01/90.  (SD2)

 


THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

1057

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

S.D. 2

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO DETENTION AND RETENTION PONDS.

 

 

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

 


     SECTION 1.  This Act shall be known as the "Charlotte 'Sharkey' Schaefers Act", in memory of the young girl who drowned in 2004 while attempting to rescue a friend who had fallen into a retention pond.

     SECTION 2.  The legislature finds that unregulated and poorly maintained rainwater detention and retention ponds can potentially pose a health and safety risk, particularly to Hawaii's children.  Since rainwater retention and detention ponds can sometimes be mistaken for recreational bodies of water, safety features may be prudent to protect children from drowning.

     The purpose of this Act is to establish a task force to investigate and examine the dangers of retention ponds and to recommend appropriate safety measures.

     SECTION 3.  (a)  There is established in the department of health a temporary water safety task force to be composed of the following officials or their designee:

     (1)  The director of health, as chair of the task force;

     (2)  The attorney general;

     (3)  The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources;

     (4)  The president of the Hawaii chapter of the American Public Works Association, who shall be requested to assist the task force;

     (5)  The mayor of the city and county of Honolulu;

     (6)  The mayor of the county of Maui;

     (7)  The mayor of the county of Kauai;

     (8)  The mayor of the county of Hawaii;

     (9)  The president of the Hawaii Association for Justice, who shall be requested to assist the task force;

    (10)  The commander of the United States Army Corps of Engineers Honolulu Engineering District, who shall be requested to assist the task force; and

    (11)  The director of the United States Department of Agriculture's Hawaii field office, who shall be requested to assist the task force.

     (b)  The responsibilities of the task force shall be to:

     (1)  Collect data and determine the advisability of limiting or defining liability to landowners from persons injured on their land, where the land is made available for the retention of flood waters and runoff;

     (2)  Determine minimum safety requirements for the development and maintenance of retention ponds, including but not limited to proper borders, fencing, landscaping, and sloping;

     (3)  Determine the appropriate warning signs for retention ponds;

     (4)  Determine the need for a periodic retention pond inspection program; and

     (5)  Consider any other relevant matters pertaining to the safety of retention ponds.

     (c)  The task force shall submit its findings, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2010.

     (d)  The task force shall cease to exist on June 30, 2010.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2090.