Council members voted 9-0 on first reading to approve the amended Bill 86, which would authorize the creation of an alternative fire debris removal process done at the owner’s expense. Residents and businesses may also elect to do the process through a government-operated program, which has no out-of-pocket costs for property owners. However, property owners will need to provide any insurance proceeds they receive for fire debris removal to the federal government, according to the bill.

The amended bill would allow the council to approve the requirements of the alternative debris removal program by resolution. The county administration must still develop the program requirements for those who want to use their own qualified contractors to do the work.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Michael Hopper explained that the original bill had the designated county department adopting the requirements through the administrative rule-making process, which would take an additional 40 days and would include a public hearing period.

Hopper said this would not be the first time that a council approved requirements through resolution.

The change to the bill was put forward by Council Vice Chairwoman Yuki Lei Sugimura, who said people are ready to move forward with debris removal but have many questions, including on alternative programs authorized by the county.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently working to clear hazardous household materials from fire-impacted properties and has completed about 66 percent, the EPA told a council committee on Wednesday. Once the EPA wraps up its work, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will start debris removal.

Darryl Oliveira, interim administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, said Monday that the Army Corps has not yet given the county a start date but had assured “that they’re not going to start work on a property unless the property owner has had a chance to get back as well as give them the right of entry.”

A representative for the Army Corps said that debris removal will begin with property owners either choosing a government program or an alternative program, according to a report by the Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee. Bill 86 aims to ensure the standards and procedures for both programs are consistent and protect public health and safety, a California emergency official told the committee. Those who opt for the alternative program would have to submit a work plan to the county and hire qualified contractors.

Council Member Tamara Paltin, whose residency seat is West Maui, said she understood the urgency of moving the legislation forward as people want to clean up, but she wanted to ensure that fire victims and insurance agents were aware of the bill and the yet-to-be-determined requirements.

She pointed out that there was just one insurance agent from Lahaina who showed up to testify at Thursday’s meeting and who had questions about the debris removal process.

“We all together as the County of Maui needs to reach out to all of the property owners and insurance adjusters so that there is a very clear understanding of what is going to be expected of the property owners and insurance adjusters as we move forward with this debris removal,” Paltin said.

She noted there are still a lot of things to be worked on, such as which department will be handling the alternative program and what the process rules will look like.

Paltin suggested that interactive meetings to allow residents to ask questions and receive answers would be more effective than a public hearing.

Council Chairwoman Alice Lee said she will work with Paltin and Sugimura “to get the word out to the people about this bill.”

The bill and the meeting agenda can be found at mauicounty.us/agendas/.

* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com. Managing Editor Colleen Uechi contributed to this report.