Kaua‘i cesspool conversion relief program nears launch

LIHU‘E — More than 18 months after a county bill was passed, Kaua‘i’s Residential Cesspool Conversion Program is one step away from finally getting off the ground.

First authorized in November 2021, the program aims to encourage residents to upgrade their cesspools — which discharge fecal and chemical waste into oceans, streams and groundwater — by providing financial assistance for the typically five-figure undertaking. A 2017 state law requires all 88,000 of Hawai‘i’s cesspools to be upgraded, converted or closed by 2050.

Under the program’s initial concept, the state Department of Health would provide the County Housing Agency with $2 million in federal funds to provide cesspool conversions to prioritized applicants.

However, as County Housing Agency Director Adam Roversi explained during a County Council meeting on June 21, logistical concerns forced the agency to rework the program with the Department of Health.

“The Department of Health had more or less created the program that they were willing to fund,” he said.

“They had originally envisioned it as that the housing agency would contract an engineer and a construction company, and the county would do the engineering work and the construction on all the individual homeowners’ properties. But when we got into the details of discussing that with the county attorney’s office, it was determined that that was just infeasible from both an administrative perspective and a liability perspective,” he said.

After a lengthy consultation process between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state Department of Health and County Housing Agency, the program was slashed to a more feasible, albeit less extensive, concept. If an agreement is reached, $1 million in federal funds would provide up to $20,000 in reimbursements for applicable homeowners who complete the cesspool conversion.

Roversi suggested during the council meeting that the Department of Health would only provide funds in the form of reimbursements rather than giving the money upfront, citing logistical concerns of their own.

“My understanding in conversations with the Department of Health is that they didn’t want to be handing out money and having people fail to do the work, and then try to collect money back from people … the Department of Health didn’t want to be in those messy situations of having to remedy improper work after the fact,” he said, adding that the department had additional concerns over conversions being done by unlicensed contractors.

The proposed program would create six prioritized groups to select reimbursement recipients. In descending order of priority, they are:

• Properties outside of Kaua‘i’s visitor destination areas that have or plan to build an Additional Dwelling Unit, Additional Rental Unit or guest house.

• Properties in areas deemed by the state as priority upgrade areas (Kapa‘a, Wailua, Po‘ipu, Koloa, Hanalei Bay);

• Households earning no more than 120 percent of the 2019 median household income;

• Properties receiving a homeowner’s exemption;

• Properties with a residential real property tax classification;

• Properties located outside of the county’s sewer expansion area.

Additionally, if funds remain after all prioritized applicants are covered, remaining funds can be given out to applicants on a first-come-first-served basis.

The County Housing Agency can only begin receiving applications once the details are formally agreed on by both the County Housing Agency and state Department of Health, Roversi said.

Following Roversi’s presentation, County Council Chair Mel Rapozo expressed both optimism for the program and frustration for the time it’s taken to implement, noting many residents have been waiting to apply since the program was first announced in 2021.

“This is a valuable program, and I’m afraid that every day we don’t do it, whether it’s the state’s fault or our fault, our families now are not allowed to participate or benefit in this program,” he said. “And I don’t think that’s fair.”

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Jackson Healy, reporter, can be reached at 808-647-4966 or jhealy@thegardenisland.com.