STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2506
Honolulu, Hawaii
S.D. 1
President of the Senate
Thirty-Second State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2322 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WATER QUALITY,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Health to continue water testing during brown water advisories under certain circumstances.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Kingdom Pathways; Surfrider Foundation, Hawaiʻi Region; Surfrider Foundation, Maui Chapter; Surfrider Foundation, Kauaʻi Chapter; Surfrider Foundation, Oʻahu Chapter; Free Access Coalition; Friends of Kewalos; Windward Coalition; Wastewater Alternatives and Innovations, LLC; a form letter signed by twenty-two organizations; and sixty-four individuals.
Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.
Your Committees find that it is crucial to prioritize the health and safety of the State's residents by monitoring the quality of the State's water supply, especially during brown water advisories. Your Committees further find that currently, once a brown water advisory has been issued, the Clean Water Branch (CWB) of the Department of Health's protocol is to suspend all monitoring at the affected beaches while continuing routine sampling at regularly scheduled beaches. Your Committees additionally find that the CWB does not do additional testing of affected beaches during brown water advisories because it diverts resources away from routine sampling and increases risk of failing to meet federal grant commitments.
Your Committees acknowledge the concerns raised by the Department of Health's testimony that because the CWB does not receive state funding for beach monitoring and is financially limited to seven water sampler positions across the State, the current federal funding for daily operations of the program are insufficient to implement additional statewide monitoring and laboratory analytical testing as required by this measure.
Accordingly, your Committees have
amended this measure by:
(1) Inserting an appropriation to the Department of Health in an unspecified amount; and
(2) Inserting an effective date of December 31,
2050, to encourage further
discussion.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2322, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2322, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment,
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________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair |
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