Caught Lying to Senate, Airports Division now blames Legislators for $23M Contract

by Andrew Walden

Testifying before a combined Senate WAM/TRS budget briefing, January 16, 2026, Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDoT) Director Ed Sniffen told Senators that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is requiring HDoT to remove and replace newly built fire suppression systems at the Consolidated Car Rental (CONRAC) facilities at Honolulu and Kahului Airports. 

“Additional expenses for CONRAC: We have a fire suppressant system that has PFAS in its usage, fire foam. By FAA’s requirements, that whole system has got to be replaced. It cannot just be the tanks. It cannot just be the lines. Everything gotta go. These lines have only been in since 2019 and 2021.” -- WAM-HHS, WAM-TRS Informational Briefings 01-16-2026 - YouTube 1:42:30

Wrong. 

FAA contradicted Sniffen in a January 23, 2026 expose by Hawai’i Free Press:

“The FAA does not regulate fire suppression systems for off-airfield locations such as car-rental facilities, and there is no federal mandate for airports to transition to PFAS-free foams.”

The non-existent FAA mandate was HDoT’s rationale for this budget item:

“Other Operating Expenses … Additional operating and management funds required for the ConRAC facilities at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and Kahului Airport of $10,600,000 in FY26 and $11,660,000 in FY27 are being requested.” -- p9 of Hearing Folder

Now, after ignoring our ‘UIPA’ public records request for a solid month, HDoT is changing its story. 

The new story?  According to Airports Division Director Curt Otaguro, the legislature is to blame:

“there are no specific (FAA) regulations that mandates AFFF replacement to F3 Foam currently….  The regulation that is driving fixed based facilities, such as the CONRACs, to replace their fire suppression systems that contain AFFF, is Act 152 (of 2022)….”

In response to questions from Hawai’i Free Press, Otaguro admits HDoT has not sought a legal opinion from the Attorney General’s office on whether Act 152 really requires the project.  

By falsely blaming the FAA, Sniffen distracted legislators from asking themselves whether expensive removal and replacement—paid out of operating funds—was really in line with their intent in passing Act 152.  

Testifying before Senate WAM/CCA, April 1, 2022, Par Hawaii, operator of the state’s only oil refinery, defended its continuing use of PFAS foams:

“AFFF foams have NOT been proven on a large diameter real tank fire incident and do not meet the same ‘put the fire out’ standards as older foam concentrates.”

This type of testimony from Par Hawaii, Island Energy, and the America Chemistry Council, led to the final version of Act 152 being amended to prohibit only the use of PFAS “for training or testing purposes”:

“Beginning July 1, 2024, it shall be unlawful to manufacture, sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for training or testing purposes in the State any class B firefighting foam that contains intentionally introduced PFAS chemicals.”

Nonetheless, without any guidance from the Attorney General, Otaguro presents his own opinions on what the law requires:

“Act 152 prohibits the manufacturing, sale, or distribution, sale, distribution or use of Class B Fire Fighting Foams that contain PFAS and a clause for discharges of the foam.  Since Hawaii does not allow the sale/distribution/use of AFFF, it can no longer be purchased which makes the fire suppression system obsolete.  Current AFFF systems and AFFF operations can only discharge AFFF if necessary to put out a petroleum fire.  Hawaii has two car rental facilities (CONRAC) located in Honolulu and Kahului airports.  CONRAC’s fire suppression system would be triggered no matter what the cause of a fire is (e.g. there can be non-petroleum fires that trigger the system if the fire breaks out at the fueling area).”  

Because Sniffen lied to legislators about HDoT’s rationale and Otaguro has not sought an AG opinion on his reading of Act 152, legislators have been denied the information they need to determine whether HDoT is really required to replace these newly installed firefighting systems.

Will they step up to strip this out of the budget bill?

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2026: FAA Exposes $23M Airports Division Lie: ‘We did not order HDoT to Replace Firefighting Systems’

2024: Naming Names: Airports Division Ran Late-Night Parties Where Hawaii Politicians Raked In Money