HI HB1421

Establishes a cesspool conversion loan special fund administered by the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority to provide low-interest loans to low- and moderate-income homeowners for upgrading cesspools to approved wastewater systems or connecting to sewerage systems

Loan repayments would be collected through property owners' water bills, with counties coordinating with the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority to implement the on-bill repayment mechanism

Hawaii has approximately 83,000 cesspools releasing over 53 million gallons of untreated sewage into the ground daily, with 59% located on Hawaii Island, and current conversion rates of only about 200 per year are insufficient to meet the January 1, 2050 deadline

Appropriates unspecified sums from general revenues for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 to capitalize the fund, with allocations to each county capped at $100,000,000 per fiscal year and requiring a 3:1 county match

Effective date is set to July 1, 3000, indicating the bill requires further amendments before implementation