Bill Text: HI SB1066 | 2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Fresh Water Security.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2023-12-11 - Carried over to 2024 Regular Session. [SB1066 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-SB1066-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
1066 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 |
S.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO FRESH WATER SECURITY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
The legislature further finds that the State has been left with dams and reservoirs that have become liabilities rather than assets; insufficient watershed protection that threatens Hawaii's natural fresh water sources; and outdated, inefficient, and leaky water transmission systems. Climate change is rapidly altering Hawaii's water supply, and the State's ongoing responsibility to provide water to satisfy the increasing needs of multiple beneficial uses requires increasing capital investment.
The legislature further finds that the Fresh Water Council distilled nearly two years of water security research and analysis into a single goal: to create one hundred million gallons per day in additional, reliable fresh water capacity for the State by 2030. To achieve this goal, water experts and evidence suggest that significant investments are needed in the forms of system upgrades, new source development, improved conservation, watershed restoration and protection, relocated wastewater treatment plants, decentralized and scaled water recycling, storm water capture, and more efficient water transmission.
The legislature further finds that new and innovative investment partnerships and community engagement are needed to mobilize large-scale investment in Hawaii's fresh water security. This will require partners from multiple sectors, including county, state, and federal governments, as well as private philanthropic and corporate entities, to work together to leverage funds and provide matching opportunities.
The legislature finds that the risks of doing nothing to address the State's water security are enormous. The Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility fuel leak and the climate change‑induced water crisis unfolding around the globe offer important reminders of the human, economic, and environmental harms associated with a dramatic reduction in fresh water supply. These alarming circumstances demand innovative strategies that combine streams of capital to make long-needed water security projects viable.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to establish within the commission on water resource management a water security working group to study and recommend, for legislative consideration and approval, priority capital improvement projects, including funding and financing strategies for each project, that leverage public-private investment to increase Hawaii's water security.
SECTION 2. (a) There is established within the commission on water resource management a water security working group to study and recommend, for legislative consideration and approval, priority capital improvement projects, including funding and financing strategies for each project, that leverage public‑private investment to increase Hawaii's water security. The working group shall consider projects that:
(1) Protect and manage Hawaii's forested watersheds;
(2) Renovate dams and reservoirs;
(3) Improve the efficiency of water transmission and irrigation systems;
(4) Reduce the use of potable water for landscape and other nonfood irrigation;
(5) Encourage water re-use;
(6) Monitor the quality and quantity of the water supply; and
(7) Are considered appropriate by the working group.
(b) The working group shall establish criteria for evaluating potential capital improvement projects and priority based on but not limited to:
(1) The public and private benefits of the project;
(2) The level of community support for, or opposition to, the project;
(3) The cost estimates and timetable for the completion of the project;
(4) The potential for receiving financial and in-kind contributions from funding partners for the project; and
(5) The amount of water conserved, recharged, or re-used by the project.
(c) The working group shall consist of but not be limited to the following members:
(1) A manager and chief engineer, manager-chief engineer, or director of a county water utility;
(2) The
deputy director of the commission on water
resource management of the department of land and natural resources, or the
deputy director's designee;
(3) The
administrator of the division of forestry and wildlife of the department of
land and natural resources, or the administrator's designee;
(4) The
deputy director of the department of health, or the deputy director's designee;
(5) A
member having knowledge of agricultural water storage and transmission systems;
(6) A
member from a private landowning entity that actively partners with a watershed
partnership, who shall be invited to participate;
(7) A
member having knowledge, experience, and expertise in Native Hawaiian cultural
practices; and
(8) A
member representing a philanthropic organization, who shall be invited to
participate.
(d) The working group may request assistance and feedback from the city and county of Honolulu and the counties of Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii; department of land and natural resources; department of agriculture; and any other department that the working group deems appropriate, to provide expertise to the working group in conducting the water security study. The working group shall further consult with industry stakeholders, private landowners, and other environmental organizations that are encouraged to cooperate and provide information or input.
(e) The working group shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, relating to the water security study to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2024.
(f) The members of the working group shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, necessary for the performance of their duties.
(g) No member of the working group shall be subject to chapter 84, Hawaii Revised Statutes, solely because of the member's participation in the working group.
(h) The working group shall be dissolved on June 30, 2024.
SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2023-2024 for the water security working group's administrative support, travel, meeting, and operational costs; provided that all moneys from the appropriation that are unencumbered as of June 30, 2024, shall lapse to the credit of the general fund as of that date.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the commission on water resource management for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.
Report Title:
Water Security Working Group; Commission on Water Resource Management; Study; Capital Improvement Projects; Appropriation
Description:
Establishes within the Commission on Water Resource Management a water security working group to study and recommend, for legislative consideration and approval, priority capital improvement projects, including funding and financing strategies for each project, that leverage public-private investment to increase Hawaii's water security. Makes an appropriation. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD2)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
