HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	227
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE counties to establish goals to reduce the solid waste stream in each county by seventy-five per cent by January 1, 2012.

     WHEREAS, the recent growth in Hawaii's population has resulted in an increase in the amount of waste entering the waste stream and Hawaii's landfills; and

     WHEREAS, due to limited landfill space, the capacity for disposing of solid waste within the State continues to diminish; and

     WHEREAS, with available landfill space running out in the face of population growth and economic development, and with few options for acquiring more disposal space, it is important for the State to reassess its waste reduction goals; and

     WHEREAS, approximately twenty-five years ago, California initiated a solid waste management program that has proved effective, provided for periodic solid waste reduction benchmarks and enforced substantial penalties for counties that failed to meet the benchmarks; and

     WHEREAS, for example, Monterey County, California, was able to successfully meet solid waste reduction benchmarks by educating the community on the waste reduction and recycling efforts by emphasizing that taxpayers' money would pay any penalties based upon the county's failure to meet the benchmarks, providing each household with recycling sorting bins, providing weekly recycling pickup, and holding frequent community "last chance" sales for sellable items that would otherwise be thrown away; and

     WHEREAS, Act 324, Session Laws of Hawaii, 1991, established aggressive goals to reduce the solid waste stream by twenty-five per cent by 1995 and by fifty per cent by 2000; and

     WHEREAS, further reductions in the waste stream are necessary to preserve the sustainability of Hawaii and its growth and it may be helpful to look to other states for effective models of waste management and reduction; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the Senate concurring, that the counties are requested to establish goals to reduce the solid waste stream in each county by seventy-five per cent by January 1, 2012; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to submit a report to the Legislature detailing past progress in solid waste reduction in the State and future strategies and methods that will assist the counties in meeting the solid waste reduction goals called for herein, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2009; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health and the Mayor and the Chairperson of the Council of each county.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title: 

Solid Waste Reduction