HI HB119

Amends the definition of "water pollutant" in Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 342D to exclude locally sourced sand under specific conditions.

Sand is excluded from the water pollutant definition when it is naturally occurring sand from a beach, stream mouth, or channel within the State and is used on an adjoining beach or littoral cell for beach erosion mitigation, sediment management, beach restoration, erosion control, dune restoration, or nearshore fishpond restoration.

Addresses Hawaii's beach erosion crisis, where 70 percent of beaches on Kauai, Oahu, and Maui are eroding and more than 13 miles of beaches have been lost over the past century.

Removes regulatory barriers that had previously classified clean, locally sourced beach sand as a water pollutant, preventing beneficial sediment management projects designed to mitigate coastal erosion.

Effective date is July 1, 2017.