Bill Text: HI HCR11 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 11 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requesting the Department of Land and Natural Resources to Create a Task Force Studying the Effects of a Mobile Slaughterhouse

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-13 - The committee(s) on AGR recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HCR11 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-HCR11-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	11
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A TASK FORCE TO EXAMINE THE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR MOBILE SLAUGHTERHOUSES IN THE STATE OF HAWAII.

WHEREAS, many small family farmers who have found a ready market to sell their livestock directly to local consumers, restaurants, and stores have difficulty finding a medium to convert their live animals into a product for sale; and

WHEREAS, the challenge for many of these small producers is that they often do not have United States Department of Agriculture inspected processing facilities available within a practical distance and at an affordable cost; and

WHEREAS, a growing opportunity for farmers across the United States is the mobile slaughterhouse - a slaughter facility mounted on a trailer that comes to the farm having the benefits of low capital costs, convenience, and low processing costs; and

WHEREAS, in addition to the direct benefits for meat producers that can result from the development of mobile meat harvesting units, other benefits include:

(1) The improvement of animal welfare by avoiding the need to ship the animals long distances;

(2) The more efficient use of slaughter waste that can be composted into valuable fertilizer and other products, such as pet food; and

(3) The increased opportunities for rural employment; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture has supported the small family farmer with Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative, which promotes farmers' markets and other outlets for locally grown foods; and

WHEREAS, the concerns for more stringent preventive measures that relate to food safety has prompted the need for the hazard analysis and critical control points system, a systematic preventive approach to food safety that allows for a more flexible regulatory approach for small producers when meeting sanitary rules and other requirements; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Agriculture is requested to create a task force to identify which counties will benefit from the establishment of mobile slaughterhouses, as well as examine the economic, environmental, and regulatory consequences (opportunities/obstacles), including information and experiences from communities and agencies across the counties relevant to establishing mobile slaughterhouses to serve Hawaii's small scale farmers and ranchers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture is requested to include on the task force the following members or their designees:

(1) The Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources;

(2) The Chairperson of the Agribusiness Development Corporation;

(3) A representative from the United States Department of Agriculture;

(4) A representative from the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources;

(5) A representative from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development;

(6) A representative from the planning department of each county, as appropriate;

(7) A representative from the Department of Research and Development of each county, as appropriate;

(8) A representative from the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, as appropriate; and

(9) A representative from the Cattlemen's Council; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to examine and make recommendations on the following issues regarding the establishment of one or more mobile slaughterhouses:

(1) The need, if any, for the establishment of mobile slaughterhouses for small producers on specific islands as well as the economic factors regarding the establishment of mobile slaughterhouses, including but not limited to:

(A) The cost of, and potential funding for the development of a mobile slaughterhouse;

(B) The cost of, and options for, the operation and management of a mobile slaughterhouse;

(D) The financial sustainability of an ongoing operation of a mobile slaughterhouse; and

(2) The existing and potential modification of regulatory and permitting conditions within the county, state, and federal levels; and

(3) The environmental impacts and opportunities as well as handling and removal procedures; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to report to the Legislature on its finding and recommendations, including any necessary proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2015; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture; the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources; the Chairperson of the Agribusiness Development Corporation; the Executive Director of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation; the Mayor of each county; the Dean of the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; the Director of Health; the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Business and Cooperative Programs Specialists of the United States Department of Agriculture; the United States Rural Development Agency; the President of the Cattlemen's Council; and the Hawaii Resource Conservation and Development Councils.