Section 11-62-06 - General requirements Owners shall comply with these requirements:
(a) All buildings used or occupied as a dwelling, all public buildings, and all buildings and places of assembly generating wastewater or with toilets, sinks, drains, or other plumbing fixtures capable of conveying wastewater, shall be connected to a wastewater system. In addition, any new building capable of generating wastewater shall be connected to a wastewater system which meets the requirements of this rule.(b) All buildings and places of assembly generating wastewater or with toilets, sinks, drains, or other plumbing fixtures capable of conveying wastewater and located within or near an available public sewer system as determined by the director, shall connect to the public sewer.(c) All wastewater systems shall be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained in accordance with this chapter.(d) Operation and maintenance. All wastewater systems and parts thereof that are installed or used by persons to achieve compliance with this chapter and the conditions of any department approval for use issued under this rule shall at all times be properly operated and maintained. Proper operation and maintenance includes adequate laboratory controls and appropriate quality assurance procedures as specified by the director. Effluent testing for private wastewater systems shall be performed by an independent laboratory. Proper operation and maintenance also includes operation of any required back-up or auxiliary facilities or similar systems as specified by the director to be installed to achieve compliance with this chapter and the conditions of any department approval for use issued under this chapter.(e) No holding tank, except for public facilities, and no privy shall be used. No portable toilets shall be used for any permanent structure unless approved by the director.(f) No person or the owner shall cause or allow any wastewater system to create or contribute to any of the following: (2) Public health hazard;(4) Unsanitary condition;(5) Wastewater spill, overflow, or discharge into surface waters or the contamination or pollution of state waters, except in compliance with a permit or variance issued under chapter 11-55, or a water quality certification or waiver obtained under chapter 11-54;(6) A wastewater spill, overflow, or discharge (spill) onto the ground, except for R-1 water from a recycled water system that is implementing BMPs approved by the director. The burden of proof is on the recycled water system's owner or operator to demonstrate that the spill qualifies for this exception;(7) Harborage of vectors, including insects and rodents;(8) Foul or noxious odors;(9) Public safety hazard; or(10) Contamination, pollution, or endangerment of drinking waters, except in compliance with a permit issued under chapter 11-23.(g) Notice. If any of the conditions in subsection (f) exist, the owner or the person responsible for the wastewater system shall notify the director immediately, unless for subsection (f)(5) and (f)(6), the owner or person responsible demonstrates compliance with the protocol attached to this chapter as Appendix B, entitled Responses for Wastewater Spills, Overflows, and Discharges ("Spills") dated July 1, 2014.(h) In case of a violation of this chapter, the director, at the director's discretion, shall initiate enforcement action against the owner(s) of the wastewater system and initiate enforcement action against other persons to have the offending condition abated, corrected, or removed. In addition, once a violation of this chapter occurs, the director shall order the owner to take immediate actions to protect public health and safety.(i) Duty to mitigate. The owners of wastewater systems shall take steps to minimize or prevent the use and disposal of wastewater or wastewater sludge in violation of this chapter which has a reasonable likelihood of adversely affecting human health or the environment.(j) Upon request by the director, proposed wastewater systems in critical wastewater disposal areas shall be approved in writing or by rule by the respective county board of water supply or department of water supply.(k) If applicable, a wastewater system involving the subsurface disposal of wastewater shall be in compliance with chapter 11-23.(l) Approvals to-construct the wastewater system shall be considered invalid if:(1) A county does not issue a building permit for a private building within one year after the director approves the wastewater system, or the construction of the wastewater system has not begun within one year of the approval; and(2) A county revokes or rescinds a building permit and the building is to be served by a wastewater system that was approved in conjunction with the building permit application. Reapproval of any wastewater system for which the director's approval has been rescinded or determined invalid pursuant to this paragraph shall be based on the applicable rules in effect at the time the request for reapproval is made.(m) The director, at the director's discretion, may require that a wastewater system be upgraded to meet the applicable requirements of this chapter whenever a building modification is proposed that may change the nature or quantity of the wastewater flowing to the wastewater system. The modifications may include but not be limited to adding additional bedrooms to a dwelling or adding a restaurant to a shopping complex. The director, at the director's discretion, may also require that a wastewater system be upgraded if any of the following conditions exists: (1) The existing wastewater system has created or contributed to any of the conditions noted in subsection (f);(2) The existing wastewater disposal system has within the last twelve months been pumped more than twice or has spilled wastewater more than once;(3) The existing wastewater system disposes untreated wastewater directly into the groundwater table,- or(4) The owner of the existing wastewater system has not satisfactorily addressed all of the deficiencies noted by the director.(n) Modifications to wastewater systems that may affect the quality or quantity of the wastewater and wastewater sludge shall meet the applicable provisions of this chapter.(o) Actions taken by the director to evaluate and determine possible measures to achieve compliance with this chapter do not guarantee that an approved wastewater system will function satisfactorily for any period of time, or mean that department employees are liable for any damages, consequential or direct, that are or may be caused by a malfunction of the wastewater systems.(p) Duty to comply. The owners of any wastewater system shall comply with all applicable provisions of this chapter. In addition, all owners shall comply with all conditions of any department approval for use issued under this chapter. Any noncompliance constitutes a violation and is grounds for: enforcement action; department approval for use termination, revocation and reissuance, or modification; or denial of a department approval for use renewal application.(q) In cases where the director is required to conduct an inspection at a location outside the State, the owner of the wastewater system shall be required to cover all costs related to the inspection.[Eff 12/10/88; am 8/30/91; am and comp 12/09/2004] (Auth: HRS §§ 321-11, 322-8(a), 342D-4, 342D-5, 342D-15) (Imp: HRS §§ 321-11, 322-1 to 322-4, 322-8, 342D-2, 342D-4, 342D-5, 342D-6, 342D-50; HRS ch. 340E; 33 U.S.C. §§1311, 1342, 1345; 40 CFR Parts 122, 123, 40 CFR §501.15 (b)(6))[Eff 12/10/88; am 8/30/91; am and comp 12/09/2004;am and comp 3/21/2016] (Auth: HRS §§ 321-11, 322-8(a), 342D-4, 342D-5, 342D-15, 342E-3) (Imp: HRS §§ 321-11, 322-1 to 322-4, 322-8, 342D-2, 342D-4, 342D-5, 342D-6, 342D-50, 342E-3; HRS ch. 340E; 33 U.S.C. §§1311, 1342, 1345; 40 CFR Parts 122, 123, 40 CFR §501.15(b)(6))