STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1278

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 546

H.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 546, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE FUEL TANK ADVISORY COMMITTEE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee to hold no fewer than one regular meeting in each quarter of a calendar year; and

(2) Appropriate an unspecified amount of funds for the Department of Health to obtain contractor support for additional meetings of the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Health, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee was established in 2016 to study issues related to leaks of certain fuel storage tanks throughout the State, specifically issues surrounding leaks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility (Red Hill Facility) managed by the United States Department of Navy (Navy) and the United States Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). According to testimony, the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee meetings are the only consistent venue for members of the public to receive and request information relating to the Red Hill Facility, and although the frequency of its meetings was increased from once to twice a year following the fuel release at the Red Hill Facility in November 2021, progress made by the Navy and DLA in mitigating the contamination remains unclear. Requiring the Advisory Committee to hold quarterly meetings will allow for more timely disclosure of spill events and the responses to deal with them; better communication regarding current efforts for aquifer recovery and remediation; better opportunities for the public to present their concerns; and more coordination of members of the Advisory Committee to address concerns related to the 2015 Red Hill Administrative Order on Consent that requires the investigation, cleanup, and prevention of releases, and the proposed 2023 Red Hill Administrative Order on Consent that sets forth steps to ensure the safe defueling and closure of the facility.

Your Committee notes that although this measure contains an unspecified appropriation amount, should your Committee on Ways and Means choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it considers appropriating $350,000 to fund contractor services to assist the Department of Health in the preparation, facilitation, and execution of the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee's quarterly meetings.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 546, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair