SB2046 amends Hawaii’s underground storage tank law to require the Department of Health to adopt rules for responding to suspected and confirmed releases from underground storage tanks and tank systems. The bill keeps existing requirements for investigation, emptying tank contents when safe, proper closure or repair/testing, and public notification, but it tightens the environmental restoration standard for confirmed releases.
The key substantive change is that when a release involves jet fuel, restoration of the environment must include cleanup and removal of jet fuel, including additives and degradation or reaction products, to the extent practicable. The bill’s findings emphasize Hawaii’s freshwater resources, the cultural importance of wai, and the need for full remediation of jet fuel contamination, reflecting concerns raised in the wake of Red Hill-related contamination issues. The measure is set to take effect on July 1, 3000, which functions as a placeholder effective date rather than an immediate policy change.
Impact
The bill would amend section 342L-35, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by directing the Department of Health to include more specific rule requirements for confirmed underground storage tank releases, especially for jet fuel contamination. It would not broadly rewrite the underground storage tank program, but it would narrow and clarify the restoration obligation by requiring cleanup of jet fuel and related compounds as much as practicable, subject to department standards. This would affect tank owners and operators, particularly those handling aviation fuel or other petroleum products, and would strengthen the department’s authority to require remediation after a release.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been generally supported in committee, passing three Senate committees unanimously or near-unanimously with amendments: Agriculture and Environment, Health and Human Services, and Judiciary. The findings and report language show strong concern about protecting groundwater and drinking water from jet fuel contamination, suggesting a protective and remedial policy consensus around the measure. However, the bill was later recommended to be deferred by the House Judiciary committee, indicating that while the policy goal was broadly favorable, there may have been unresolved concerns about implementation, scope, or legal drafting.
Contention
The main point of contention is the extent and specificity of the cleanup obligation for jet fuel releases. Supporters emphasize that there should be no acceptable level of jet fuel in Hawaii’s water and that contamination must be fully remediated, while the statutory language still leaves room for the Department of Health to determine what is acceptable and what is practicable. The bill’s focus on jet fuel also suggests it is aimed at a particular contamination problem, which may raise questions about whether the standard is too narrow, too demanding, or difficult to enforce in practice. The House Judiciary deferral indicates that legal or policy concerns remained even after favorable Senate action.
A resolution to direct the Clerk of the House of Representatives to only present to the Governor enrolled House bills finally passed by both houses of the One Hundred Third Legislature.
Relating to nonsubstantive additions to, revisions of, and corrections in enacted codes, to the nonsubstantive codification or disposition of various laws omitted from enacted codes, and to conforming codifications enacted by the 88th Legislature to other Acts of that legislature.