SB2003

Report Title:

Water Conservation by State Agencies

 

Description:

Requires all state agencies to: (1) designate an unspecified portion of maintenance budgets for water conservation retrofitting; and (2) comply with requests by county water boards for voluntary reductions of water consumption.

 

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2003
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO WATER CONSERVATION.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that due to ongoing dry weather and high water use, county boards of water supply have asked for voluntary water conservation measures as water levels continue to fall. In past years, the public has generally complied with these requests, but this is no longer the case – water use rates on the island of Oahu have actually increased over 2000 figures, despite requests for conservation.

The legislature further finds that some of the largest water users are government agencies, and that in some cases these agencies have been slow to comply with requests to cut water use. In addition, government agencies with older, less water efficient plumbing and fixtures use more water, placing additional stresses on water supply systems.

The purpose of this Act is to improve water conservation by requiring all state agencies to:

(1) Dedicate a portion of maintenance funds to be used to retrofit older facilities with water saving plumbing fixtures; and

(2) Comply with any request by a county board of water supply to cut water use.

SECTION 2. Chapter 36, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§36-   Water conservation retrofit for public facilities. Each state agency shall evaluate and identify for implementation water conservation retrofitting of public facilities, including but not limited to, the installation of low flow showerheads, faucets, toilets, and sprinkler systems, and shall use       per cent of the agency's maintenance budget for such retrofitting."

SECTION 3. Chapter 54, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§54-   Water shortage; compliance with a request for voluntary reduction in water use. When a board determines that a water shortage exists and requests a voluntary reduction in total water use, all state agencies shall comply with the request and reduce water consumption to the level requested by the board."

SECTION 4. Section 54-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "board" to read:

""Board" means the board of water supply or water board of [each] any county;"

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________