Honolulu, Maui Airport Garages Face $23 Million ‘Forever Chemical’ Foam Rip-Out

Hawaiʻi is getting ready to rip out pricey fire-suppression systems loaded with so-called “forever chemicals” at its airport rental-car hubs, a move that will cost an estimated $23 million and test how you swap out critical safety gear without shutting down a major travel convenience.

State transportation officials told lawmakers this week that they plan to remove and replace aqueous film-forming foam systems that contain PFAS at the consolidated rent-a-car facilities serving Honolulu and Maui. The massive ConRAC garages will stay open while the work happens in phases, and officials say the project is driven by tightening federal and state rules on PFAS in firefighting foams.

Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen told the Senate Ways and Means Committee that the Federal Aviation Administration is requiring removal of the existing systems. He said the department estimates replacement at the two facilities will cost about $23 million and stressed that the job will be a full gut, not a quick patch: “It cannot just be the tanks, it cannot just be the lines, everything has got to go.” Sniffen noted these systems typically last around 15 years but the state will be swapping them out early. After the hearing, he said the department plans to use revenue from the state rental motor vehicle surcharge to pay for the work, which will be staged so rental operations can continue, as reported by Honolulu Civil Beat.

Why PFAS Are Being Removed

The ConRAC fire systems rely on aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, a Class B firefighting foam developed for fuel fires that has historically contained PFAS compounds. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that PFAS are highly persistent in the environment and have been linked in studies to health problems including certain cancers and developmental and immune effects, according to the U.S. EPA.

Which Facilities And The Price Tag

The affected systems sit inside the consolidated rent-a-car complexes at two of the state’s busiest airports: the Honolulu ConRAC at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and the Kahului ConRAC on Maui. The Honolulu facility came with a roughly $377 million price tag when it opened in 2021, per the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation. The Maui complex wrapped in 2019 with reported costs in the low- to mid-hundreds of millions, according to local reporting.

State materials put the HNL ConRAC’s late-2021 opening at a project cost of $377 million, funded with customer facility charges. Reporting on the Kahului ConRAC places its completion in 2019 with an estimated cost of roughly $340 million, as detailed by the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation and Maui News.

How The State Plans To Pay

To fund the PFAS foam swap-out, Sniffen told lawmakers the department intends to lean on revenue from the state rental motor vehicle surcharge. That surcharge has been climbing on a set schedule and reached $7.50 per day on January 1, 2026, according to tax-compliance reporting by Sovos.

The Legal Backdrop

Hawaiʻi has already moved against PFAS-laden firefighting foams. A state law restricting Class B foams with intentionally added PFAS took effect July 1, 2024. The statute generally bans the manufacture, sale, or distribution of such foams and limits their use to situations where they are necessary to suppress petroleum fires, as reflected in state code. The law text is available in the state statute summary at Hawaii Revised Statutes §321-603.

What To Watch Next

The Department of Transportation has not yet released a firm construction timeline or contractor lineup. Officials say the overhaul will be segmented so the ConRAC facilities can keep operating while old systems are removed and replacements are installed. Next up: details on procurement, how the state plans to dispose of legacy foam and contaminated materials, and which non-PFAS agents will ultimately be chosen to handle fuel-fire protection at the airports.