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A BILL FOR AN ACT <br />RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT. <br />BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII; <br />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 waters, free of pollutants, <br />4 help support the coral reef systems that are 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 Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require newly <br />10 installed or modified individual wastewater 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 <br />amended by <br />adding <br />a new section to part III to be appropriately <br />15 <br />designated <br />and to <br />read as follows: <br />