WHEREAS, responsible environmental stewardship requires management and supervision of the safe collection and lawful disposal of banned, outdated, or unwanted pesticides; and

WHEREAS, it is illegal to dispose of agricultural pesticides in sanitary landfills but there are currently no options for disposal of these substances within the state; and

WHEREAS, a Pesticide Disposal Assistance Program (Disposal Program) would promote a safer and cleaner Hawaii environment by reducing the amount of pesticides that, without such a program, could potentially contaminate the drinking water, groundwater, streams, rivers, and land across the state; and

WHEREAS, according to a recent United States Environmental Protection Agency publication on pesticide disposal programs nationwide, there are currently 33 states with permanent programs and 13 others working toward establishing permanent programs in their states; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, that the Department of Agriculture (DOA) is requested to establish a Disposal Program to provide an available, affordable, and environmentally accessible mechanism by which any farmer in the state can properly dispose of unwanted or unusable pesticides; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOA is requested to secure adequate funding, including federal or state sources to support this urgently-needed environmental stewardship effort; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOA is also requested to create a task force to include representatives from:

(1) The Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation;

(2) The Hawaii Agriculture Research Center;

(3) The Department of Health; and

to coordinate the establishment of the proposed Disposal Program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Department of Agriculture, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, Department of Health, and the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.

Report Title:

Requesting The Department Of Agriculture To Establish An Agricultural Pesticide Disposal Assistance Program.