Department of Environmental Services

The City and County of Honolulu entered into a Consent Decree Dec. 17, 2010, in United States District Court – District of Hawai‘i presided over by Judge David Ezra, with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH), and three Non-Governmental Agencies (The Sierra Club, Hawai‘i’s Thousand Friends, and Our Children’s Earth Foundation). The consent decree is known as Civil No. 94-00765-DAE-KSC.

On Dec. 30, 2010, the city petitioned to amend the consent decree, which was approved March 27, 2012.  The amendment replaced the Kaneohe-Kailua Force Main and two million gallon storage tanks with the Kaneohe-Kailua Sewer Conveyance Tunnel.  The amendment would save approximately $30 million over the next 30 years and $500,000 each year thereafter. The amended Consent Decree, which also contains the original can be viewed here:

• • Consent Decree:  Civil No. 94-00765-DAE-KSC
  • First Amended Consent Decree
  • All About the ENV Consent Decree

The 2010 Consent Decree consists of three parts:

Phase 1 – Collection System projects, to be completed by 2020;

Phase 2 – Upgrade the Honouliuli WWTP to secondary treatment by 2024; and

Phase 3 – Upgrade the Sand Island WWTP to secondary treatment by 2035.

The 2010 Consent Decree either eliminated or terminated the following:

• • 1995 Consent Decree – replaced this agreement which focused on sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs)
  • 2004 Non-Government Organizations Lawsuit
  • 2007 Non-Government Organizations Lawsuit
  • 2007 EPA/DOH Stipulated Order (for Beachwalk force main break)
  • All outstanding litigation and EPA/DOH Enforcement Orders for wastewater treatment plants and collection system
  • All wastewater claims asserted in the above actions for violations through the date of the lodged consent decree

The 2010 Consent Decree also does the following:

• • Withdrew the city’s appeals for secondary treatment waivers
  • Allows the city to NOT comply with secondary treatment regulations until upgrades are completed and establishes interim treatment limits
  • The settlement required the city to pay $1.6 million in civil fines, split between the EPA and DOH
  • The settlement includes stipulated penalties of up to $2,000 per day for any unmet compliance milestone dates

   ✔The city completed all of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 projects on time and on budget

   ✔The city has met all milestone deadlines and not paid any stipulated penalties during the consent decree