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Council agrees to limit external grants to “up to 50%” as Honolulu sets up climate resiliency fund
Summary
The council discussed Bill 15 to create a climate resiliency fund. City staff recommended focusing initial investments on highest‑priority cesspools and proposed flexibility in how city and external projects split the fund; council language was amended to allow up to 50% of fund dollars to go to outside grants and loans.
Honolulu — The Budget Committee discussed Bill 15, a proposal to create a dedicated climate‑resiliency fund to support city projects and grants to community partners. The Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resilience told the committee it supports a split of funding between internal city projects and external grants and suggested a flexible “up to 50%” cap for outside awards to allow priorities to shift year‑to‑year.
Ben Sullivan, executive director of the city’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resilience, advised the committee to prioritize “priority 1” cesspools first because state data show only a subset of the island’s cesspools have the highest impact on nearshore water quality. Sullivan said the Department of Environmental Services is continuing work to analyze cesspool interconnections and conversion options and that detailed conversion planning would take time; he therefore urged the council to structure the fund so the city can direct resources quickly to the highest‑priority conversions and other resilience work.
Sullivan told the committee the office originally recommended a 60/40 split (internal city projects vs. external grants); during the meeting staff supported council language that makes the external grants share “up to 50%” of annual appropriations so the city retains flexibility and any unspent share can roll to other resilience priorities. Sullivan also proposed a small administrative set‑aside (the office discussed 5%) for program administration and recommended that the fund be structured so money can be carried over year to year for multi‑year projects.
Committee members discussed scope and timing. Sullivan said the Department of Health data the office reviewed show about 10,000 cesspools on Oahu and roughly 750 that are classified as priority 1, and he recommended early focus on those high‑impact sites. He also said DEP’s detailed interconnection analysis will require about 16 months to complete, so the fund will need to be able to support a staged approach to conversions and sewer connections.
Committee members adopted an oral amendment to the CD2 language to make the grants share an “up to 50%” bucket for external grants and loans, with the remainder available for city‑led resilience projects. The committee did not finalize appropriation amounts at the hearing; members asked the office to return with proposed administrative procedures, eligibility criteria for outside grants, and a sample project list focusing on high‑priority cesspools and other resilience measures.
Ending — The committee moved the measure forward in amended form, asking the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resilience to provide additional operational details (project selection, grant rules, and eligibility thresholds) and to present a plan that can move money quickly to the highest‑priority cesspools while preserving funds for city infrastructure projects.
