Bill Text: HI HCR88 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 88 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: DOH; Water Quality Certification

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-04-10 - Referred to HTH, JDL. [HCR88 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-HCR88-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	88
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Requesting the Department of Health to provide written notification within a reasonable time to applicants for water quality certification if the application is incomplete.

WHEREAS, the Department of Health is responsible for certifying that any discharge resulting from a proposed activity will not violate applicable water quality standards, in accordance with section 401(a)(1) of the federal Clean Water Act; and

WHEREAS, certification under section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act is often the last of a series of required applications, typically triggered as a conditional requirement for a section 404 permit from the United States Army Corps of Engineers for a discharge in waters of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the timely approval or disapproval of applications is a reasonable expectation and is necessary to ensure the timely implementation of projects; and

WHEREAS, state or county agencies are required under section 91-13.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to adopt rules specifying a maximum time period to grant or deny a business- or development-related permit, license, or approval; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Health has adopted rules providing that if the Director of Health fails or refuses to act on a request for certification within one year after receipt of a complete water quality certification application, then specified certification requirements must be waived with respect to the concurrently required federal application; and

WHEREAS, approval of both government and private applications for water quality certification can take up to three years from the time an application is initially submitted; and

WHEREAS, the time required to obtain a water quality certification is unreasonably long, is not consistent with the intent set forth in section 91-13.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and results in delays often resulting in costly and extraneous efforts to complete projects by government and private sector applicants; and

WHEREAS, the backlog of water quality certification applications at the Department of Health has caused a number of small projects to stall, including a project at Honokohau Harbor; and

WHEREAS, improved response times from the Department of Health with respect to water quality certification applications will allow state agencies to more accurately budget for capital improvement and natural resource management projects and to implement projects on a more timely basis, thereby improving service to the public and saving money for the State; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to provide written notification within a reasonable time to applicants for water quality certification if the application is incomplete, including specific requirements the applicant needs to satisfy in order to complete the application; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to deem an application complete if an applicant has not been notified in writing that the application is incomplete within a reasonable time after submission of the application; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health and the Commander and Division Engineer of the United States Corps of Engineers, Pacific Ocean Division.