HB 379 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT.

Summary

Requires newly installed or modified individual wastewater systems that are near the shoreline to include denitrification capacity. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 16, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB379_HD1 → HB379_HD2 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to narrow its scope by removing requirements for denitrification capacity in wastewater systems located near groundwater. The eligibility criteria were simplified to apply only to systems within 200 feet of a shoreline, eliminating the previous conditions related to soil age and nutrient holding capacity. This change reduces the number of systems required to install denitrification technology, potentially lowering compliance costs for homeowners in areas with high water tables but no immediate shoreline proximity.

Scope change

The bill's applicability was narrowed from systems near shorelines or likely to pollute groundwater to only those within 200 feet of a shoreline.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed the requirement for denitrification capacity for wastewater systems likely to pollute groundwater.

Removed eligibility criteria based on soil age (less than 5,000 years) and soil characteristics (low nutrient holding capacity, low shrink/swell, fast permeability).

REQUIREMENT

Simplified the requirement to mandate denitrification capacity only for newly installed or modified systems located within 200 feet of a shoreline.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on CPC as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Cochran, Kitagawa, Ward excused (3).

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Committee

Reported from WAL (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 599) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to CPC.

lower

Feb 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on WAL recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Hashem, Lamosao, Belatti, Ichiyama, Morikawa, Poepoe, Woodson, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Iwamoto; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Feb 4, 2025

Committee

Reported from EEP (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 102) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to WAL.

lower

Jan 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on EEP recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Lowen, Perruso, Kahaloa, Kusch, Quinlan; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Ward.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to EEP, WAL, CPC, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 16, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors