A measure going through the state Legislature this year seeks to strengthen last year’s ban on building landfills too close to water sources — but now the bill could undo that ban altogether.
The state Legislature passed a 2025 law prohibiting landfills on Oʻahu from being built near aquifers. This year’s House Bill 1673 was introduced to go further by using a “no-pass zone” as the border beyond which no landfills can be built, modified or expanded.
A no-pass zone is an area over freshwater and is developed by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. It’s already used to guide the BWS’ decision to approve or reject proposed landfills.
But the bill’s language was amended in the House Committee on Water and Land, and now it would simply repeal last year’s ban.
The state Department of Health offered that amendment, which it said in a written testimony after a Feb. 3 hearing would allow BWS “to implement their rules and regulations to approve any landfill plans at the county level utilizing the no pass zone.”
But the repeal of the ban sparked opposition from testifiers who initially supported the proposal.
In a Tuesday hearing in the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi Director Wayne Tanaka said the current version of the bill could put the community’s access to clean water at risk.
“Administrations change, and so do the chief engineers of the Board of Water Supply. Given the amount of pressure that we place on future administrations and future boards … to site landfills over aquifers, I think it’d be more prudent for the Legislature to maintain its protections and ensure that our children's and grandchildren's water security remains as protected as possible,” Tanaka said.
The sharp change in the bill also led to some confusion. Testifiers who initially supported it had to oppose the amended version.
Even BWS initially supported the revised HB 1673, but Chief Engineer Ernie Lau corrected that testimony.
“We strongly oppose it because it takes away the good protections of this Legislature last session, passed to protect our precious supply from putting municipal landfills right above our aquifer,” Lau told lawmakers.
The state Health Department supported the new version of the measure. So did the Honolulu Department of Environmental Services, which said in its testimony that there are adequate boundaries that determine where landfills can be placed.
The city administration in late 2024 announced its plans to build a new landfill in Wahiawā near an aquifer.
That faced pushback from BWS and many others in the community, and ultimately led to the state Legislature’s ban.
The city has said that there isn’t another location on Oʻahu to build a new landfill, and recently said it plans to expand its existing Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, which is nearing capacity and is scheduled to close by 2028.
Decision-making was delayed until a committee hearing on Thursday.
How did we get here? Read past HPR coverage:
- City says it may have to take over nearby land to expand Oʻahu landfill (January 2026)
- Hundreds of bills have passed the Hawaiʻi Legislature. Here are 7 you should know about (May 2025)
- Some Honolulu councilmembers push back on Wahiawā as next landfill site (January 2025)
- Wahiawā location selected for Oʻahu's next landfill site (October 2024)
- Commission gives Honolulu an extension to select a new landfill site (August 2024)
- As trash continues to pile, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi officials discuss landfill siting options (July 2023)
- The clock is ticking on the Waimanalo landfill in West Oʻahu. Here are the city's options (April 2022)
- Oʻahu Grapples With Where To Place Its Next Landfill As It Confronts Its Waste Dilemma (January 2020)
