Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 145 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to request the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) to study the utilization of recyclable plastics and other alternate energy sources for the generation of power.

The Hawaii Food Industry Association, Legislative Information Services of Hawaii, and Pacific Allied Products, Ltd., testified in support of this measure. DBEDT and Life of the Land commented on this measure.

As an isolated island state, Hawaii has a high dependence on fossil fuels for its energy needs, which has a tremendous impact upon one of its greatest assets, its natural environment. Your Committee finds that garbage-to-energy facilities, such as the H-POWER plant on Oahu, have the ability to generate electrical power for the State using an alternative source of energy. Your Committee further finds that other countries have built thermoelectric power plants operated solely through the use of fuel made from recyclable plastics. These alternative sources of energy would not only decrease our dependence on fossil fuels, but would also divert waste from state landfills that are already reaching capacity.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 145, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 145, H.D. 1.