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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1691 <br />THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 H.B. NON H.D. 1 <br />STATE OF HAWAII S.D. 1 <br />A BILL FOR AN ACT <br />RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT. <br />BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII: <br />I SECTION 1. The legislature finds that protecting the <br />2 State's nearshore waters is important for ecosystem resilience <br />3 and public health. Clean nearshore <br />waters, <br />free of pollutants, <br />4 help support the coral reef systems <br />that are <br />critical to <br />5 Hawaii's fisheries. A 2023 study published in the scientific <br />6 journal Nature found that coral reefs that are protected <br />from <br />7 land -based pollutants, especially wastewater <br />pollutants, <br />are <br />8 better able to recover from ocean warming events. <br />9 <br />Accordingly, the <br />purpose of <br />this Act is <br />to require newly <br />10 <br />installed or modified <br />individual <br />wastewater <br />systems that are <br />11 near the shoreline, or likely to pollute groundwater, to include <br />12 denitrification capacity. <br />13 SECTION 2. Chapter 342D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is <br />14 amended by adding a new section to part III to be appropriately <br />15 designated and to read as follows: <br />2024-2139 HB1691 SD1 SMA.docx <br />