Gov. Josh Green on Wednesday signed into law a measure to establish a fund to provide Hawaii homeowners low-interest or forgivable loans to finance costly, federally mandated conversions of their cesspools to septic systems or sewers.

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Gov. Josh Green on Wednesday signed into law a measure to establish a fund to provide Hawaii homeowners low-interest or forgivable loans to finance costly, federally mandated conversions of their cesspools to septic systems or sewers.

House Bill 1618, introduced by Rep. Nicole Lowen, a Kona Democrat, establishes a cesspool conversion revolving loan fund, which will be be administered by the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority, or HGIA — funding from which is known by the moniker “green fees.”

The initial allocation is $2 million, which is basically seed money, as cost estimates are a conservative $2.4 billion to upgrade all 80,000-plus cesspools statewide if the work were to be done now.

At a state capitol ceremony, Green called the conversion — which a federal consent decree orders completed by Jan. 1, 2050 — “a big challenge for our state.”

“We are damaging the land. We are damaging the reef, because we do not have an adequate way to manage what happens when the impact of humans and all we produce goes into the ocean,” Green said. “Cesspools have to be converted. We know this. We have mandates that are out there, but we won’t reach them. Even though they’re out there, (our) children and grandchildren will be dealing with this issue. But if we don’t do something now and don’t really set ourselves on a better path, we won’t get there.”

Green acknowledged that the $2 million allotment is a starting point and the fund, to be successful, will need massive additional long-term funding. The state Department of Health, through a memorandum of agreement, will be authorized to transfer unspecified funding yearly from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to the cesspool conversion financing program.

The HGIA is tasked with setting up the parameters of loans from the cesspool conversion fund.

“I’m going to be blunt,” Green said. “We’re not getting a lot of help at the moment from the federal government on these matters, so the Legislature decided to take it upon themselves to make really foundational changes.”

The governor expressed hope, however, saying he received “a very interesting call” from the feds.

“They said they wanted an environmental project,” Green recalled. “Admittedly, they said they didn’t want to wade into the climate question, but they wanted something that would be good for the environment and also good for business. And I said, ‘OK, well we have something.’

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“Just so you know, conversion of cesspools is an opportunity to do both those things. And I’m going to keep pushing that because any time we can, as impossible as it may sound, find some kind of common ground where we can get some extra resources from the federal government to do something that’s environmentally helpful, I’ll take it.”

House Speaker Nadine Nakamura noted that cesspools statewide are “emitting 50 million gallons of human waste … into our environment” daily.

“You know, we have this deadline of Jan. 1, 2050, to convert these cesspools. Well, what happens when 80% to 90% of the families in Hawaii cannot afford the cost of the $30,000 to $50,000 it may take?” Nakamura said. “We set aside $2 million to start up a loan program. It’ll be low-interest or forgivable loans for low- and moderate-income families.

“And I’m really excited this is the start of, I think, an ongoing program to … make sure that our reefs, our drinking water, (and) our nearshore waters for recreation are going to be usable for current and future generations.”

Ted Bohlen, board chair of the nonprofit Wastewater Alternatives and Innovations, said he was a deputy state attorney general working on water matters for the DOH two decades ago when he “discovered that cesspools were the biggest wastewater issue in the state of Hawaii.”

Bohlen, who said his organization is “working on ways to reduce the cost with new technologies,” described the measure as “really critical,” adding he’s thrilled it became law.

“It’s very important when the reefs are under stress that we do what we can to save them — and part of that is to eliminate these 80,ooo-plus cesspools that are dumping 50 million gallons of waste into our groundwater every single day,” he said. “Cesspool upgrades are expensive. We need financial help. Those homeowners can’t afford the cost.”

Also signed into law Wednesday by Green was Senate Bill 2001, introduced by Sen. Lorraine Inouye, establishing the Banyan Drive Community Development District, which is intended to revitalize the long-neglected Waiakea Peninsula in Hilo.

Those new laws are in addition to Green signing on Wednesday HB 2218 — which authorizes the Department of Land and Natural Resources to enter into formal co-management agreements with qualified community-based organizations to support conservation, cultural practices, watershed protection and restoration of native ecosystems across public lands — and HB 1920, which extends to 2032 the state’s low-income housing tax credit.

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Email John Burnett at [email protected].