2018-09-26 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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• The Coastal Zone Management Act is an educationally oriented program administered by NOAA. The only teeth it has is through the SMA permitting process in the county. Minor SMAs can be approved by the Planning Commission, and major SMAs require an EIS. • Hawaiʻi state law has sections that deal with underground injection control, pollution control, and coastal zones. Agricultural activities in a coastal zone are categorically exempt from the Coastal Zone Management Program. • Injection wells are a big problem. There are hundreds on the island, and the state is just now digitizing where they are, what is being injected, and how much. Many of these wells have not been inspected in decades, though federal law requires annual inspections. • The ōkalaŌʻʻ Dairy is an example of an exemption from an SMA EIS under state law. The county allowed this dairy to be built. The dairy generates about 150,000 pounds of manure per day in an area that receives 100 inches of rainfall. Dairy operations are most successful in a desert climate, not in high rainfall areas, and many dairies on the mainland are moving to drier parts of the country for this reason. The ōkala Dairy is a clearŌʻʻ violation of the Clean Water Act, and the county could have anticipated the problem if it had the statutory authority to do so. • Our island has many impaired waters and not a single Total Max Daily Load (TMDL) program. The State has not been enforcing the CWA, TMDL, for impaired waters. • There are many activities along the Kona Coast where bad water is being returned to the ocean without an NPDES permit. There are cesspools and septic systems that are virtually unregulated. • State policy in HAR 11-54 says the marine waters off the Kona Coast are Class AA, which means they are to “remain in their natural pristine state as nearly as possible with an absolute minimum of pollution or alteration of water quality from any human-caused source or actions.” It is a noble policy, but it’s not happening. • There are underground injection wells in various places in our state. Research shows these wells transfer nutrients directly into the ocean as effectively as though they were flowing through a pipe built for that purpose. • An intrinsic conflict is being ignored. There are pristine waters where underground injection wells are not allowed. • The opportunity and need for water recycling exists, but it is not easy. It requires DOH approval. Kauaʻi County has asked for and been granted authority to do its own recycled water approvals. If Kauaʻi can, so can Hawaiʻi County. • There is a septic system/cesspit dilemma. Hardly any distinction can be found between the two on how they affect the environment. Alternatives are needed, and the ability to administer those alternatives locally. The state does not have the resources to do it. • Most of the nitrogen that gets into the sea originally comes from the protein in our food, and it has significant impacts. A 2018 study of Kailua