STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2590

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2711

       S.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2711, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to permit the Department of Health to distribute excess moneys in the deposit beverage container deposit special fund to the counties to support the establishment and maintenance of recycling programs.

     The County of Kauai, Honolulu Department of Environmental Services, and Maui Department of Environmental Management submitted testimony in support of this measure.  The Department of Health submitted testimony in opposition.  Anheuser Busch Companies submitted comments.

     Your Committee finds that this measure will help the counties address some of the challenges each currently faces in managing solid waste and reducing waste in landfills by providing funding for county‑run recycling programs.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that the Department of Health may support the implementation and operation of beverage bottle recycling and related county‑run recycling programs;

     (2)  Providing that excess funds should be calculated after operational expenses authorized by the Legislature, including beverage bottle recycling contracts, are deducted and a reserve amount is established by the Auditor to ensure cash flow;

     (3)  Changing the references to fiscal year 2008 and 2009 to calendar year 2008 and 2009 to allow time for fund auditing; and

     (4)  Reducing the percentage of excess funds from the deposit beverage container deposit special fund that the Department of Health may allocate to the counties at the end of calendar year 2009 and thereafter, from one hundred per cent to seventy‑five per cent.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2711, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2711, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair