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Family testimony urges statewide stormwater inspection rules after child's drowning; DLNR questions agency assignment
Summary
SB 1221 (stormwater systems) prompted emotional testimony from a mother whose child drowned in a clogged detention pond. Witnesses and advocates urged a statewide inspection and safety standard; DLNR said the counties or Department of Health may be better suited to lead the program than DLNR.
SB 1221, which would require a statewide survey, inspection and safety standards for detention and retention basins, drew emotional testimony and policy debate on March 11.
Lisonbee (Charlotte) Schaeffers testified about her daughter’s 2004 drowning in a flooded detention pond and described continuing maintenance failures at the site. “That orange fence is the water they fenced it after she drowned… I went back on February 28th of this year…and the weeds are so overgrown in it that it’s blocking the drains again,” she said. Schaeffers asked lawmakers to include inspection fees and fines for noncompliance so operators bear the cost of safety monitoring.
Greg Maseikian of the Kukua Council and Waikiki Neighborhood Board urged support for the measure, calling drowning a persistent statewide problem and endorsing statewide standards for retention ponds.
DLNR told the committees it had concerns about being designated the lead agency for this program. “We do not believe DLNR is the appropriate agency for a program of this sort,” a DLNR witness said, recommending the counties — which handle stormwater permitting and inspections — are the logical entities to run a maintenance and inspection program. The DLNR said Department of Health MPDES permit programs already capture information about retention basins and that the counties already have permitting and inspection authority in their jurisdictions.
The bill’s supporters said statewide standards are needed to avoid a patchwork of county rules and to protect residents, especially children, from drowning risks associated with poorly maintained stormwater infrastructure. Schaeffers suggested a cost‑share approach where operators pay inspection fees and face fines to help subsidize government monitoring.
After hearing testimony, the committee inserted language from a related House bill to address written testimony and moved to advance SB 1221 SD2 with those changes. The chairs’ recommendation to pass with amendments was adopted on the committee roll call.
