HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

90

TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

SUPPORTING the EFFORTS by the natural energy laboratory of hawaii authority and the Department of Health to work together to develop guidelines for the disposal of seawater.

 

 


     WHEREAS, the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) administers Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology Park, the world's premier energy and ocean technology park, (Park) on 870 acres in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, which is the world's only facility that brings ashore high quality, pristine supplies of both warm surface and cold deep seawater twenty-four hours a day, allowing for various tests to take place and realizing the economic potentials from the dual temperature seawater delivery system and high solar insolation; and

 

     WHEREAS, NELHA has completed three environmental impact statements regarding the disposal of seawater used within the Park that conclude that the disposal of the seawater in surface trenches is most desirable and lay out a number of safeguards to ensure that environmental impact is minimized; and

 

     WHEREAS, Chapter 11, Hawaii Administrative Rules, governing wastewater disposal, classifies NELHA's waste seawater as non-domestic wastewater and specifies that its treatment and disposal is reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the Director of Health; and

 

     WHEREAS, NELHA has previously directed its tenants to seek guidance from the Department of Health with respect to waste seawater treatment, disposal requirements, and defining applicable standards; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Health is considering requiring NELHA businesses to transition from subsurface trenches to underground injection well methods of disposal that could impose significant technological and economic hurdles for businesses at NELHA; and

 

WHEREAS, NELHA proposes to work with the Department of Health, various other State entities, and stakeholders to define a set of guidelines and rules within the framework of Chapter 11, similar to current rules for livestock waste management, which specifically address the means, methods, and parameters associated with treatment and disposal of seawater in all of the applications for which it is used; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, that the Legislature strongly supports the efforts by NELHA and the Department of Health to work together to develop guidelines for the disposal of seawater; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, and Director of Health.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Supporting the efforts by NELHA and the Department of Health to work together and develop guidelines for the disposal of seawater.