REPORT TITLE:
Roadside Maintenance


DESCRIPTION:
Requires the implementation of an integrated vegetation
management program to provide for more environmentally safe and
less toxic alternatives to the use of pesticides in roadside
vegetation management.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           1444
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO ROADSIDES. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Chapter 264, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 2 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
 3 read as follows:
 
 4      "§264-    Integrated vegetation management program.  (a)
 
 5 All state and county governmental agencies responsible for the
 
 6 maintenance of public roadsides shall adopt an integrated
 
 7 vegetation management program that provides for the
 
 8 environmentally safe and least toxic maintenance of roadside
 
 9 vegetation.
 
10      (b)  The integrated vegetation management program shall:
 
11      (1)  Adopt a policy of noninterference if the current
 
12           management of roadside vegetation is both
 
13           evironmentally safe and the least toxic method;
 
14      (2)  Implement alternatives to using pesticides for roadside
 
15           vegetation management including, but not limited to,
 
16           mowing and brushcutting, planting low maintenance
 
17           vegetation, nonchemical weed prevention strategies, and
 
18           paving roadsides; and
 
19      (3)  Explore new strategies for roadside vegetation
 

 
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 1           management including, but not limited to, exploring hot
 
 2           water treatment, infrared treatment, use of
 
 3           hydromulching ferns, encouraging owners to maintain
 
 4           roadsides adjacent to their properties, holding
 
 5           landscaping contests, and providing further support to
 
 6           programs that encourage community maintenance of public
 
 7           highways.
 
 8      (c)  The use of pesticides for roadside management of public
 
 9 roadsides shall be prohibited within two hundred feet of:
 
10      (1)  School bus stops;
 
11      (2)  Streams, stream channels, watercourses, water sources,
 
12           and surface waters as defined in section 174C-3; and
 
13      (3)  Coastal waters.
 
14      (d)  Each state or county agency shall develop and implement
 
15 plans to phase out the use of pesticides deemed unsafe by the
 
16 roadside vegetation committee.
 
17      (e)  Any state or county agency that intends to use
 
18 pesticides for roadside vegetation management shall post notices
 
19 at the area where the pesticides are to be used indicating the
 
20 areas where the pesticide will be sprayed, the type of pesticide,
 
21 and when it will be sprayed.  The county agency shall post the
 
22 notices two days prior to the actual spraying of the area and
 
23 shall remove the notices five days after the spraying.
 

 
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 1      (f)  There is created the roadside vegetation committee to:
 
 2      (1)  Develop alternative roadside vegetation management
 
 3           strategies;
 
 4      (2)  Develop and recommend an efficient process for quality
 
 5           roadside design and management;
 
 6      (3)  Identify pesticides that are unsafe;
 
 7      (4)  Identify, explore, and review roadside vegetation
 
 8           management practices;
 
 9      (5)  Initiate demonstration programs of environmentally safe
 
10           roadside vegetation management; and
 
11      (6)  Make advisory policy recommendations with respect to
 
12           roadside vegetation management.
 
13      (g)  The committee members shall be appointed by the
 
14 governor within sixty days from the date of this Act.  The
 
15 members of the committee shall include:
 
16      (1)  A representative from the department of transportation;
 
17      (2)  A representative from the respective public works
 
18           departments of the counties of Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii,
 
19           and Kauai;
 
20      (3)  A representative from the respective water supply
 
21           authorities of the counties of Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii,
 
22           and Kauai;
 
23      (4)  A representative representing the interests of the
 

 
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 1           native Hawaiian community;
 
 2      (5)  A representative that is an expert in the field of
 
 3           biodiversity; and
 
 4      (6)  A representative from the landscape architect
 
 5           profession.
 
 6      The committee shall elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson
 
 7 from among its members.  A majority of the members shall
 
 8 constitute a quorum.  The committee shall be placed within the
 
 9 department of transportation for administrative purposes.
 
10 Members of the committee shall serve without compensation.  The
 
11 committee shall meet twice a year and shall submit a report,
 
12 including its recommendations for statutory changes, to the
 
13 legislature not less than twenty days prior to the convening of
 
14 each regular session of the legislature.
 
15      (h)  For purposes of this section:
 
16      "Pesticide" means:
 
17      (A)  Any substance or mixture of substances intended for
 
18           preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any
 
19           insects, rodents, nematodes, fungi, weeds, and other
 
20           forms of plant or animal life or viruses, except
 
21           viruses on or in living persons or other animals, which
 
22           the board of agriculture or the administrator of the
 
23           environmental protection agency shall declare to be a
 

 
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 1           pest; and
 
 2      (B)  Any substance or mixture of substances intended for use
 
 3           as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant.
 
 4      "Public roadsides" mean all roadsides of all public highways
 
 5 in the State."
 
 6      SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
 7      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 8 
 
 9                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________