Spending bills include funding for Red Hill, shipyard upgrades

TL;DR - Two draft military funding bills are making their way through Congress after being approved by the House Appropriations Committee.

The committee approved a draft of the 2023 iteration of the annual National Defense Appropriations Act on Wednesday and the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act on Thursday. Both include provisions for projects and initiatives in Hawaii.

At the top of the agenda for Hawaii’s congressional delegation was funding to drain the underground Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility after fuel from the facility contaminated the Navy’s water system that serves 93,000 residents.

“The Committee included my request to create a $1 billion Red Hill Recovery Fund to fix, defuel and close Red Hill as safely and quickly as possible, continue to address the continuing health and other concerns of affected residents, and restore our aquifer,” U.S. Rep. Ed Case (D, Hawaii) said in a news release Thursday.

June 25, 2022: Spending bills include funding for Red Hill, shipyard upgrades, Honolulu Star-Advertiser