HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2245
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to the environment.

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that protecting the State's nearshore waters is important for public health and ecosystem resilience. Clean nearshore waters free of pollutants support the coral reef systems that are critical for protecting the State's shoreline, healthy recreation, and fisheries. Coral reefs that are protected from land-based pollutants, especially from wastewater pollutants, are better able to recover from ocean-warming events. Many conventional individual wastewater systems release nitrogen pollution into the groundwater that can be harmful to coral reefs, especially in areas with highly porous soils.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require:

(1) Newly installed or modified individual wastewater systems that are near the shoreline or on highly porous soils to include denitrification capacity; and

(2) The department of health to reduce requirements for leach fields and wastewater systems with denitrification capacity.

SECTION 2. Chapter 342D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part III to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§342D-   Individual wastewater systems; denitrification capacity. (a) Beginning July 1, 2027, each individual wastewater system that is newly installed or modified shall have denitrification capacity if the wastewater system is located within two hundred feet from a shoreline.

(b) Beginning July 1, 2027, each individual wastewater system that is newly installed or modified in counties with a population greater than one hundred ninety thousand and less than eight hundred thousand shall have denitrification capacity if the wastewater system is located within twelve hundred feet from a shoreline in an area with highly porous substrate as shown on the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service's Web Soil Survey or the state geographic information system program.

(c) The department shall provide appropriate reductions in leach field and other requirements for systems with denitrification capacity.

(d) For the purposes of this section:

"Denitrification capacity" means certified to meet the guidelines of the National Sanitation Foundation and American National Standards Institute Standard 245 for residential wastewater treatment systems-nitrogen reduction, with a minimum fifty per cent reduction in nitrogen.

"Highly porous substrate" means soil with a porosity over seventy-five per cent.

"Shoreline" means the highest wash of high tide waves as determined in a certification by the department of land and natural resources."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

DOH; Individual Wastewater Systems; Nearshore Waters; Shorelines; Denitrification Capacity

Description:

Beginning 7/1/2027, requires newly installed or modified individual wastewater systems that are near the shoreline or on highly porous soils to include denitrification capacity. Requires the Department of Health to provide appropriate reductions in requirements to leach fields and wastewater systems with denitrification capacity.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.