HB 440 Summary

• Establishes an income tax credit for taxpayers who upgrade, convert, or connect qualified cesspools to approved wastewater systems or sewerage systems, with a maximum credit of $10,000 per cesspool (or $10,000 per residential dwelling for large capacity cesspools).

• Qualifies cesspools located in priority level 1 or 2 areas according to the University of Hawaii's 2022 cesspool hazard assessment tool, residential large capacity cesspools, or cesspools appropriate for connection to existing sewerage systems.

• Requires the Department of Health to certify qualified cesspools and expenses, with an annual statewide cap on total credits (amount not specified in bill text) and allows unused credits to be carried forward to subsequent years.

• Mandates sellers of residential real property disclose the existence of any cesspools on the property, including the legal deadline for conversion and the cesspool's priority level under the Hawaii cesspool hazard assessment tool.

• Adds the cesspool tax credit to the list of tax credits subject to legislative review under Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 23.