2019-02-27 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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there. The meeting was not required by HRS Section 343, but was done to communicate openly with the community on the status. The EA is expected to be completed some time in June, and will be followed by a comment period. A decision should be made by September. The EA is to evaluate the primary proposed location. The site is on 30 acres of land out of 2,000 acres in Waikapuna that is being purchased with PONC and state funds. The land is going to be put into conservation, but the Legacy Land Commission and DLNR are excluding the 30 acres from conservation, so if the EA shows the site is appropriate, a zoning change will not be needed to build a facility there. If the site turns out to be inappropriate, it will be zoned back into conservation land. The site is about 2.5 miles from the ocean and about a mile from where raw sewage is now being dumped into large-capacity cesspools. Motion, second, and vote: As Commissioner Fulton needed to leave the meeting, Commissioner Fritz moved to adjourn the meeting after completion of the Director’s Report, Vice Chair Olson seconded, and all commissioners voted aye. Commissioner Fulton left the meeting at 11:15 a.m. • Polystyrene educational program: The bill was passed last year and becomes effective July 1, 2019. The statute requires that DEM put together an education program and have it available by January 1, 2019. The education program is essentially for food establishments to look at alternatives to polystyrene. It will go out to the businesses and the public at large so people understand what is coming and what material they can and cannot use. DEM’s Recycling Section provided a PowerPoint to the Council, and a copy was provided to the commissioners in their packet. The EMC indicated they wanted the PowerPoint presentation given to them at the next meeting, and Director Kucharski said he would place it in his Director’s Report. • Status of Kealakehe WWTP effluent R-1 upgrade: He has been working closely with Brown & Caldwell on their schedule, and the 2020 date will be met. When the distribution will occur is another issue, but the intent is to have the line and pump stations for Kohanaiki by 2022. The EIS was published on February 23, 2019, and the comment period ends April 5, 2019. The EIS is expected to be finalized in June, depending on the comments that come in. Regarding the earlier discussion on the R-1 being segmented, the EIS was done specifically for the creation of the R-1 water so that it could be timely. It is not certain yet where the distribution will be. Construction is to start in August, and there will be a full pilot test of the SAT at the existing disposal area. Four of the eight SAT units should be ready to go, and the engineered wetlands should be done, in the fourth quarter of 2020. The 90% design of the system is to be available this May. They are looking at a potential modification of the green zone that was