Bill Text: HI SCR64 | 2023 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Health's Solid Waste Section To Develop A Plan Of Initiatives For Improved Waste Diversion By Working With The Counties To Address Each County's Unique Needs According To Its Geography, Population, And Industry Make-up.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-05-22 - Certified copies of resolutions sent. [SCR64 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2023-SCR64-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	64
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH'S SOLID WASTE SECTION TO DEVELOP A PLAN OF INITIATIVES FOR IMPROVED WASTE DIVERSION BY WORKING WITH THE COUNTIES TO ADDRESS EACH COUNTY'S UNIQUE NEEDS ACCORDING TO ITS GEOGRAPHY, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRY MAKE-UP.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan defines sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs; striking a balance between economic, social and community, and environmental priorities; and respecting the culture, character, beauty, and history of the State's island communities; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 324, Session Laws of Hawaii 1991, was enacted in 1991 to establish the landfill waste diversion goal of twenty-five percent by 1995 and fifty percent by 2000; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency set its national landfill waste diversion goal to be fifty percent by 2030; and

 

     WHEREAS, from 2018 to 2022, the State's average waste diversion rate was 24.8 percent, more than half the waste diversion goal set in 1991; and

 

     WHEREAS, from 2018 to 2022, the State's average waste diversion rate, in addition to the incineration rate, was 54.3 percent, meeting the State's and United States Environmental Protection Agency's diversion goals of fifty percent by 2000 and 2030, respectively; and

 

     WHEREAS, incineration, or the use of waste‑to‑energy technology, is a strategy for reducing the State's solid waste from landfills, while extracting energy and valuable materials for recycling; and

 

     WHEREAS, each county's solid waste management agency has autonomy within its county to negotiate, collect, recycle, reuse, or dispose of waste within the county in a manner that reflects that county's unique needs; and

 

     WHEREAS, part III of chapter 342G, Hawaii Revised Statutes, authorizes each county to develop county integrated solid waste management plans and requires that these plans be submitted for public review and comment and state review; and

 

     WHEREAS, these county waste management plans are guidelines that offer direction and an implementation plan but do not penalize or enforce losses if a county fails to meet the goals; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State's current role in this process is to integrate the counties' goals and provide a framework for what counties should accomplish, as well as to recognize challenges that each county faces; and

 

     WHEREAS, many of the counties' waste management plans incorporate existing county documents, such as Hawaii County's Zero Waste Plan and Maui County's Recycling Initiative, and these existing plans may be reviewed and incorporated statewide based on feasibility; and

 

     WHEREAS, given the public's support, the State's initiatives may be more effective if each county's goals are incorporated into combined goals for all levels of government; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health's Solid Waste Section is requested to, subject to the availability of funding, investigate strategies for improved waste diversion by working with the counties to address each county's unique needs according to its geography, population, and industry make-up; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health's Solid Waste Section is requested to, subject to the availability of funding:

 

     (1)  Evaluate the viability, particularly the economies of scale, of shipping waste from multiple counties to be recycled or incinerated in another county, given current county infrastructure, facilities, and deployed technology;

 

     (2)  Evaluate the viability of shipping waste from multiple counties to be recycled or incinerated in another county with the development of additional infrastructure and facilities, which are appropriately zoned by the State, through a public-private partnership or otherwise;

 

     (3)  Estimate the statewide legacy landfill capacity if an inter-county recycling and incineration program were to be established with and without any additional state infrastructure and facilities; and

 

     (4)  Submit a preliminary report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than thirty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2024 and a final report no later than thirty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2025; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor; Director of Health; Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Mayor of each county; Director of the City and County of Honolulu Department of Environmental Services; Acting County Engineer of the County of Kauai Department of Public Works; Director of the County of Maui Department of Environmental Management; and Director of the County of Hawaii Department of Environmental Management.

Report Title: 

Waste Diversion; Department of Health; Solid Waste Section; Counties