Senate Passes Schatz Legislation To Fund Defueling Of Red Hill, Set To Become Law

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate today passed legislation authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) that provides $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 of Hawai‘i’s emergency public health order. Schatz worked closely with bipartisan leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee to include the funding provision in a critical spending bill. The bill now heads to the president’s desk and is set to become law.

“We now have the funding to defuel, and Congress has made its position clear: it’s time for the DoD to drain the tanks and follow the state’s order,” said Senator Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We still have more work to do, but we are making progress.”

Schatz worked with senior leaders in the Biden Administration and the Senate Appropriations Committee to secure the new funding, which represents the first round of possible funding to defuel Red Hill. Schatz is continuing to work with the White House and congressional leaders to deliver additional funding in the president’s annual budget request and a much larger appropriations package expected to be taken up by Congress next month.

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