SR 99 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF ALLOWING BUSINESS OWNERS IN THE STATE TO UTILIZE FILTERED WATER COLLECTED BY WATER CATCHMENT SYSTEMS FOR BUSINESS ACTIVITIES.

This Senate Resolution (SR 99) requests Hawaii's Department of Health to form a working group to study whether business owners could legally use filtered water collected from rainwater catchment systems for business purposes. Currently, state law permits captured rainwater only for personal household use, not business activities, despite its potential to reduce strain on aquifers during water shortages. The working group, composed of health officials, legislators, county water representatives, and public members, must assess feasibility, recommend testing protocols, and suggest compliance strategies, with a report due to the Legislature by 2027. This resolution does not change existing law but seeks to evaluate a potential policy adjustment.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 7, 2025 Last action Apr 3, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SR99 → SR99_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from a traditional Senate Resolution document to a structured data template (SD1), while the core policy content remained largely unchanged. The most significant substantive change is the reorganization of the working group membership, which now places the Director of Health as the sole chairperson rather than a co-chair arrangement with legislative members. The list of recipients for the resolution was also updated to include the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on establishing a working group to assess water catchment systems for business use, but the governance structure of the working group was modified.

REQUIREMENT

Working group leadership changed from a co-chair structure (Senate and House members) to a single chairperson role held by the Director of Health.

Working group composition was expanded to include the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture as a member.

The list of entities receiving certified copies of the resolution was updated to reflect the new working group membership structure.

TECHNICAL

Document format changed from traditional legislative text to a structured data template with metadata fields.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1558) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Mar 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, Aquino, Hashimoto, Keohokalole; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Mar 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-24-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Committee

Referred to HHS.

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Introduced

Offered.

upper

6 primary · 1 co-sponsor