Clean Water Branch

The Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) is moderating a series of stakeholder workshops as part of its efforts to develop a strategy to address functional equivalent discharges in the State. This strategy is intended to implement the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, which requires a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit (surface water discharge permit) if the addition of pollutants through groundwater is the functional equivalent of a direct discharge into Waters of the United States.

Workshop #1 took place on May 21, 2024. The meeting included various stakeholders and provided opportunities for participants to share their thoughts and key questions. The presentation slides are available at: DOH FE Discharge Strategy May 21 2024 Stakeholder Meeting No. 1.

A copy of all presentations are also available at: https://health.hawaii.gov/cwb/clean-water-branch-home-page/workshop-presentations/#FE-Discharge-Strategy-Stakeholder-Meetings.