In the News

Five Big Island agricultural businesses will receive federal funding to help create new products and better advertise their goods and services to multiple markets. Island Harvest, a macadamia nut farm located in North Kohala, will receive $214,379 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Value Added Producer Grant Program. “It was a rigorous application that required a feasibility study along with it,” said owner Andrew Britton. “It’s one of those things you think...

Makaʻalae Farms on Maui is set to receive $250,000 in funding from the US Department of agriculture to help create new products and better advertise goods and services. According to a post on the Living Local 365 website, Maka’alae Farms is a family-owned and operated farm dedicated to bringing authentic kombucha brewed with organically grown ingredients in Hawaiʻi. The product was available at many retailers through 2020 including: Tamura’s Fine Wines and Liquors on...

Hawaii is set to receive more than $10.7 million in federal funding to support sustainable fishing and hunting and wildlife conservation in the isles, according to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz. The funding is from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program that received a record $1.5 billion this year, according to a news release from the U.S. Interior Department. The USFWS Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program will support scientific research, educational programs, and habitat restoration and...

United States Sen. Brian Schatz introduced legislation to shut down the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility permanently. “Together we will work to secure federal funding to defuel, conduct congressional oversight and push for legislation. Our bicameral bill will help us in our fight to protect our water and shut down Red Hill,” said Sen. Schatz in a statement. Schatz’s legislation followed a “companion legislation” introduced by Hawaii Congressmen...

Hawaii is set to receive more than $2.6 million in new funding to expand its network of electric vehicle charging stations, thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz. It is the first round of nearly $18 million total, based on estimated formula funding, available to Hawaii over the next five years to help install EV charging, Schatz said. “People want to purchase EVs, but they worry about where and when they’ll be able to charge their...

US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) was part of a coalition of senators who sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to step up efforts to demilitarize the police. The letter urged limiting the transfer or purchase of certain military equipment for federal, state, tribal, territorial and local law enforcement agencies. “Militarized law enforcement increases the prevalence of police violence without making our communities safer,” the letter said. “Now is the moment to make these...

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz said on Monday, Feb. 7, that $100 million in federal funds were secured in Washington to cover the cost of defueling the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and directs the Department of Defense (DoD) to comply with the State of Hawai’i’s emergency public health order. To avoid a government shutdown, Schatz has been working with other Bipartisan leaders to include the funding provision in a spending bill that will need to be approved in Congress. “This...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced Monday that he has secured $100 million in new federal funding to help cover the costs of emptying the Red Hill fuel tanks. The funds are part of more than $400 million included in a federal spending bill for the Red Hill crisis. The bill is expected pass the House and Senate before heading to the President’s desk next week. In an interview Monday, Schatz told HNN that the Red Hill tank system can’t be safely run. “I think we should shut it...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz secured $100 million in new federal funding to pay for the defueling of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in compliance with a Hawaii health department order, his office said on Monday. Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, worked with Republicans and Democrats to include the provision in a federal spending bill, according to his office. The legislation needs to pass to avoid a government shutdown. “This bill funds defueling, and it...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced today that his office had secured $100 million in new federal funding to cover the cost of defueling the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and direct the Department of Defense to comply with the state’s emergency public health order issued in December. “This bill funds defueling, and it establishes Congress’s position on Red Hill: the DoD must defuel and follow the state’s order immediately,” Schatz said in a news release....

Hawaii members of Congress said Monday a spending bill that must pass to avoid a government shutdown includes $403 million to address the crisis caused by the leaking of petroleum from a Navy fuel storage tank facility into Pearl Harbor drinking water. The money incorporates $100 million to drain fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. It also directs the Defense Department to comply with an emergency order from the state of Hawaii to defuel the tanks. The military last week appealed...

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to commute Leonard Peltier’s prison sentence and let the Native American rights activist finally go home. “I commend your administration’s commitment to righting past wrongs in our criminal justice system. In continuing that work as you consider recommendations for individuals to receive clemency, I write to urge you to grant a commutation...

Three Hawaiian Islands will receive $8,218,000 in federal funding to improve, and bolster the operation of, several Hawaii harbors, congressional officials announced Monday. The more than $8 million in new funds — which are being disbursed to the Islands under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It will be used to support dredging, which removes sediment and other debris from the harbors’ shipping channels, and surveying, which...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded Hawaiʻi $47.9 million to bring additional health care workers to local hospitals burdened by COVID-19., Hawaiʻi congressional members announced on Wednesday. According to a press release from Senator Brian Schatz’s Office (D-Hawaiʻi), the funding will be used to temporarily hire nearly 1,000 nurses and other medical staff, with additional funds expected in the future. A press release from Representative Ed Case’s...

Hawaii will receive $339 million in new federal funding over five years to repair and improve the state’s bridges, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced in a Friday statement. The money is part of a $26.5 billion program administered by the Federal Highway Administration, with funding provided the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress and signed into law in November. “This historic investment will help rebuild bridges across Hawaii, making them safer and more resilient for...

Hawaii’s schools will receive more than $2.3 million in increased funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help cover the cost of meal programs. U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, announced the boost in funding today. Schools will reap an estimated $2,340,000 in funds from the USDA in a mid-year increase to school meal reimbursements, Schatz said in a release. “Hawaii’s school meal programs are essential to making sure that children have the nutritious meals they need...

Hawaii’s delegation has thrown its support behind a state emergency order instructing the Navy to drain its Red Hill fuel tanks and conduct a safety assessment of the aging facility before seeking permission to resume operations. U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and Reps. Kai Kahele and Ed Case issued a joint statement today emphasizing the importance of safeguarding Oahu’s aquifer that supplies the island with drinking water. “The Navy must fully comply with the order...

Hawaii airports will soon see $49.3 million in new federal funding for structural improvements, congressional officials announced Wednesday. The funds, which come from the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will support airport infrastructure projects that improve safety and operations efficiency, cut congestion, and reduce the airport’s impact on the environment and neighboring communities, according to officials. The $49.3 million includes $5.9 million for airports on Kauai,...

Mixed messaging between the Navy, Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) and Board of Water Supply (BWS) have made the contaminated water crisis challenging for some agencies to get clear answers. The BWS said it is a long chain of command with the Navy sending test results to the DOH who then sends it to the BWS. “The Navy operates a regulated community water system subject to state and federal drinking water regulations and the regulator is the DOH, so we don’t want to get in the way of...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz received assurances from the White House on Saturday that Hawaii will have the federal resources needed to emerge from the current water contamination crisis at Red Hill. Schatz said he had calls with two of President Joe Biden’s top officials to talk about water quality issues at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. “Today, I spoke with White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain and Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall to brief them on the water...