EPA and the County of Hawai‛i (COH) Department of Environmental Management (DEM) have issued a joint final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Pāhala Community LCC Replacement Project (Project). It was published in the Environmental NoticeExitissued by the Hawai‛i Department of Health, State Office of Environmental Quality Control on March 8, 2020. The final EA was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), EPA and Council on Environmental Quality NEPA regulations, and Chapter 343, Hawai‛i Revised Statutes (HRS), as amended. Construction of the Project will use federal and Hawai‛i County funds. Use of these funds requires environmental review by EPA and DEM.

EPA’s Finding of No Significant Impact determination on the Project was signed on February 20, 2020.

The purpose of the Project is to terminate the use of large capacity cesspools (LCCs) by constructing a new wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal system. LCCs dispose of raw sewage in the ground and are a public health and environmental concern. A portion of the Pāhala community is served by two LCCs which are owned by the COH and operated by DEM. Federal law requires the closure of all LCCs.

The public comment period for the Draft Environmental Assessment ended on December 10, 2018. All written comments received are discussed in Appendix E of Volume 2 of the Final EA (777 pp, 62 MB, About PDF) (EPA and County of Hawaii Responses to Comments on the Draft EA).

Documents

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• EPA Finding of No Significant Impact: Pāhala Large Capacity Cesspool (LCC) Replacement Project (PDF)(6 pp, 271 K, February 20, 2020)
  EPA Finding of No Significant Impact for Pāhala Large Capacity Cesspool (LCC) Replacement Project, District of Ka‘u, County of Hawaii, Hawai‘i.
• Final Environmental Assessment for the Pāhala Large Capacity Cesspool (LCC) Replacement Project - Volume 1 (PDF)(160 pp, 6 MB, February 2020)
• Final Environmental Assessment for the Pāhala Large Capacity Cesspool (LCC) Replacement Project - Volume 2: Appendices (PDF)(777 pp, 46 MB, February 20, 2020)
  Appendices to the Final Environmental Assessment for the Pāhala Large Capacity Cesspool (LCC) Replacement Project, District of Ka‘u, County of Hawaii, HI.
• County of Hawai‛i Finding of No Significant Impact Notice: Pāhala Large Capacity Cesspool Replacement Project (PDF)(2 pp, 226 K, February 24, 2020)
  Finding of No Significant Impact Notice for the Pāhala Large Capacity Cesspool Replacement Project issued by County of Hawai‛i Department of Environmental Management.