Provides the public utilities commission with the authority to regulate fees, rates, and other assessments charged by private landfill owners or operators for disposal of solid waste at the private landfill.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. Chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§269- Power to regulate private landfill rates. (a) The commission shall regulate the fees, rates, or other assessments charged by the owner or operator of a private landfill for disposal of solid waste at a private landfill.

(b) The power provided to the commission under this section to regulate the fees, rates, or other assessments charged by the owner or operator of a private landfill for disposal of solid waste at a private landfill shall not constitute a basis for establishing that a private landfill is a public utility."

SECTION 2. Section 46-85, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§46-85[]] Contracts for solid waste disposal. (a) Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, a county is authorized from time to time to contract with users or operators of a project for the abatement, control, reduction, treatment, elimination, or disposal of solid waste, whether established or to be established under chapter 48E or as a public undertaking, improvement, or system under chapter 47 or 49, or otherwise. The contract may be included in an agreement, may be for such periods as agreed upon by the parties, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, may include:

(b) The payments, unit prices, or adjustments need not be specifically stated in the contract but may be determined by formula if set forth in the contract. The contract may include provisions for arbitration and reasonable restrictions against other disposal by the county or by other public or private entities or persons over which the county shall have jurisdiction of the substances covered by the contract while the contract is in force and disposal under the contract is practicable.

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b), the fees, rates, or other assessments charged by the owner or operator of a private landfill for disposal of solid waste at a private landfill shall be subject to regulation by the public utilities commission pursuant to chapter 269."

SECTION 3. Section 46-86, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§46-86[]] Transactions for utility services. Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, the disposal of solid waste by a county or project party is a utility service, but shall not place the county or project party in any way under the jurisdiction of the public utilities commission; provided that if the project party is the owner or operator of a private landfill, then the fees, rates, or other assessments charged by the owner or operator of a private landfill for disposal of solid waste at a private landfill shall be subject to regulation by the public utilities commission pursuant to chapter 269; and provided further that in the case of a project party, the project party shall not provide any utility services other than the disposal of solid waste or the sales of goods or commodities, including electric energy, produced by the operation of the pollution control project where such sales are made only to registered public utilities, industrial or commercial concerns, or counties or county agencies and not to the general public. If the project party is also a registered public utility, nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the sale of electric energy to the general public."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.