The action comes following requests from Hawaii's congressional delegation.

The action follows the recent passage of renegotiated Compacts of Free Association included in a federal spending package.

Migrants from Palau, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia lost access to numerous federal assistance programs in the 1990s under Clinton-era welfare reforms.

A new audit from the Government Accountability Office raises questions about whether federal agencies have been doing their jobs to hold Micronesian grantees accountable.

The multi-part agreements still need approval from Congress and the RMI parliament.

The U.S. special envoy working on the treaties laid out a bit of what is in the agreements, which are key to the U.S. strategy in the Pacific.

The decision coincides with construction setbacks that would have postponed any discharge into the Pacific Ocean until spring or summer at the earliest.