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environmental stewardship requires management and supervision of the safe collection and lawful disposal of banned, outdated, or unwanted pesticides; and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 thirty-three states with permanent programs and thirteen others working toward establishing permanent programs; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, that the Pesticides Advisory Committee is requested to assist the Department of Agriculture with establishing 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 the Pesticides Advisory Committee is requested to assist the Department of Agriculture with securing adequate funding, including federal or state sources to support this urgently-needed environmental stewardship effort; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Disposal Program should provide some form of amnesty for the disposal of pesticides that may otherwise be illegal or banned; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Department of Agriculture and the Pesticides Advisory Committee.

Report Title:

Requesting the Pesticide Advisory Committee to Assist the Department of Agriculture with Establishing an Agricultural Pesticide Disposal Assistance Program.