2018-09-26 EMC Meeting Agenda and Director's Informational Report

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DIRECTOR’S INFORMATIONAL REPORT TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 CURRENT LEGISLATION ITEM DESCRIPTION CURRENT STATUS Bill 154 The bill proposes to extend the authority of the Passed unanimously at first Department of Environmental Management to County Council reading on remove abandoned vehicles from certain private 8/8/18. Passed second reading roadways in the interest of public health and on 8/22/18, and is in the safety. County Code. DIRECTOR’S INFORMATIONAL UPDATES AND ISSUES BROUGHT UP AT PREVIOUS MEETING 1. Status of the proposed Nāālehu ʻand Pāhala Wastewater Treatment Plants. As the County of Hawaiʻi is being sued (Sandra L. Demoruelle v. Dora Beck, P.E. and William A. Kucharski, Civil No. 18-1-00206), discussion of the Pāhala and Nāālehu ʻprojects will be limited. 2. There is a need to clarify two of my statements that were the misleading at the Commission’s June 27, 2018, meeting, as reflected on page 25 of the minutes: • The reference to an EIS being done in Pāhala is incorrect. It should have been stated that a joint draft EA is being done. As an update, the EA was in fact sent to the OEQC for publication in the September 23, 2018, issue of The Environmental Notice. The EA will satisfy requirements of NEPA and HRS 343; therefore, the statement ought to have indicated that NEPA requirements would be satisfied through publication of the EA. • The EA timeframe dates of 2020 and 2021 for Pāhala and Nāālehu are ʻincorrect. Those dates are the final dates to close the LCCs. 3. Status of the closure of the Hilo Landfill. The South Hilo Sanitary Landfill is expected to stop taking additional sanitary waste in the fall of 2019. 4. Status of the East Hawaiʻi Organics Facility: The EA was submitted to the OEQC and was published in the August 23, 2018, issue of The Environmental Notice. A public meeting was held in Pāhala on September 6, 2018, during which there was robust discussion and a significant exchange of information. 5. Status of proposed commissioners to the Environmental Management Commission (per request of Commissioner Gaffney).