HI HB119

Excludes naturally occurring sand from the definition of "water pollutant" under Hawaii law when sourced from beaches, stream mouths, or channels within the State.

Permits the use of locally sourced sand for beach erosion mitigation, sediment management, beach restoration, erosion control, dune restoration, and nearshore fishpond restoration on adjoining beaches or littoral cells.

Addresses Hawaii's beach erosion crisis, with 70% of beaches on Kauai, Oahu, and Maui eroding and over 13 miles of beaches lost to erosion in the past century.

Removes regulatory barriers that previously classified clean beach sand as a water pollutant, enabling adaptive sediment management techniques such as beach-scraping, stream mouth-clearing, and sand-bypassing.

Effective date: July 1, 2017.