STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2252

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2155

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2155 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WASTEWATER SYSTEMS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Health to amend its administrative rules to:

(1) Set the maximum number of dwellings and dwelling units that may be connected to a single individual wastewater system to five dwellings and dwelling units; and

(2) Set the maximum number of bedrooms that may be connected to a single individual wastewater system to six bedrooms.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health and Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

Your Committees find that a growing body of research substantiates that overutilization of individual wastewater systems has been linked to groundwater contamination, waste leakage, and significant risks to nearshore marine ecosystems. Your Committees further find that when these systems experience hydraulic overload, effluent can migrate into groundwater sources, resulting in contamination that poses significant risks to public health and the environment. This measure ensures that individual wastewater systems are not operated beyond their intended capacity and that appropriate limits are established to protect human health, groundwater resources, and coastal ecosystems.

Your Committees have amended this measure by making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

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. 2155, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2155, 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,

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair