2018-07-26 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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comment on EAs and EISs, bring those to the EMC to get their response. Director Kucharski said if the comments for a project proponent are to tell them to go above and beyond the requirements of the state, he is not sure they have the standing to do that. It would be a slippery slope. They could say it, but there is no authority to enforce it or do anything other than say it. Also, he is not certain they have the expertise to make those precise environmental judgments. He would not want to make a statement that someone should go above the standards without having a solid factual basis to do so. Chair Bennett asked if it would be acceptable to ask that Director Kucharski bring those requests for comment to the EMC’s attention if he believes it would benefit from their input, and Director Kucharski said he would be happy to do that. Chair Bennett said he would appreciate that, and Vice Chair Olson said likewise. Chair Bennett said he would take item 5.c. on the agenda before 5.b. c. Discuss changing the Commission’s regular meeting dates in 2019 from the fourth Wednesday of each month to the fourth Thursday of each month. Chair Bennett explained the secretary had proposed this because of the difficulty in obtaining a meeting space on Wednesdays. Commissioner Pequeño had emailed testimony about the fourth Thursday being problematic for him because of a standing meeting he has that day each month. Since then, however, the secretary was able to secure a Hilo conference room for all the 2019 Hilo meetings, so there is no longer a need to move the meeting day. b. A report by Chair Bennett regarding research being done on on-site waste disposal technology that may be studied by the University of Hawaiʻi and used in County and private facilities. Chair Bennett explained that he put together a video report on some work he has been doing in the area of looking for alternatives to cesspits and septic systems. He said it is frustrating that there is no one at the state level, and no group of people, actively pursuing this in their official capacity. The presentation was entitled “Developments in the Cess to Septic Paradox.” Dr. Bennett went through each slide, and some of the highlights are: • We’ve been told that cesspits are not okay and that septic systems are the solution. They are not the solution. • A cesspit can be a hole in the ground, or it can be a concrete cylinder with some holes in it. The wastewater flows from a house into the pit and then drains to the groundwater.