SB3087.DOC

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that food waste is the second largest component in the State's waste stream and accounts for twenty-five per cent of all materials sent to landfills. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has determined that landfilling and incineration of food waste are the lowest priority disposal methods, with livestock feed, composting, feeding the hungry, and source reduction of food waste rated as higher priorities. The legislature further finds that food disposed of in landfills rots and contributes to producing methane gas - a potent greenhouse gas with twenty-one times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. The State's municipal landfills continue to have reduced available space as the population increases, forcing the counties to aggressively seek alternative landfill sites to support this critical infrastructure. Recycling food waste and turning it into compost has high environmental benefits such as improving soil health, increasing drought resistance, and reducing the need for supplemental water, fertilizers, and pesticides. Additionally, applying compost and organic matter to soils sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, mitigating climate change.

The legislature also finds that effectively reducing greenhouse gas emission in Hawaii through food waste diversion will move Hawaii towards the Aloha+ Challenge commitment of seventy per cent waste stream reduction by 2025. The unique geography of the Hawaiian islands requires thorough analysis of the infrastructure and funding necessary to accomplish food waste reduction.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to prohibit generators of commercial organic material from disposing of commercial organic material waste at landfills and waste-to-energy facilities and specify means by which the generators shall dispose of or transfer the material.

SECTION 2. Chapter 342G, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§342G‑A Disposal of commercial organic material waste; prohibition. (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, beginning January 1, 2020, a generator of commercial organic material shall not dispose of any commercial organic material waste at any landfill or waste-to-energy facility, or by incineration, in the State.

(b) Commercial organic material waste prohibited from disposal pursuant to subsection (a) shall be disposed of or transferred by the generator by means of donation, compost, biofuel production, anaerobic digestion, thermal combustion of organic materials, or animal feed.

(c) The prohibitions of this section shall not apply to special waste or waste created as a result of a natural disaster.

(d) For the purpose of this section, "commercial organic material" means any food material and vegetative material from any entity that generates more than one ton of those materials for solid waste disposal per week, but does not mean any material resulting from a residence or centralized dining facility.

§342G‑B Solid waste infrastructure advisory committee. (a) The office of solid waste management of the department of health shall establish a solid waste infrastructure advisory committee by January 15, 2017, to review the current solid waste management infrastructure in the State, evaluate the sufficiency of existing solid waste management infrastructure, and recommend development or construction of new solid waste management infrastructure in the State to meet the requirements of section 342G-A for eliminating commercial organic material waste from the municipal solid waste stream.

(b) The solid waste infrastructure advisory committee shall be composed of the director of health or the director's designee and the following members, to be appointed by the director of health:

(1) One representative from each of the solid waste management divisions of the city and county of Honolulu, the county of Kauai, the county of Maui, and the county of Hawaii;

(2) One representative of a solid waste collector that owns or operates a material recovery facility;

(3) Two representatives of solid waste commercial haulers; provided that one of the commercial haulers shall serve rural or underserved areas of the State;

(4) One representative of recyclers of food residuals or leaf and yard residuals; and

(5) One Hawaii generator of commercial organic material subject to the requirements of section 342G-A.

(1) Review the existing systems analysis of the State waste stream to determine whether the existing solid waste management facilities operating in the State provide sufficient services to comply with the requirements of section 342G-A, and meet any demand for services;

(2) Summarize the locations or service sectors where the State lacks sufficient infrastructure or resources to comply with the requirements of section 342G-A, including the infrastructure necessary in each location;

(3) Estimate the cost of constructing the necessary infrastructure identified under paragraph (2);

(4) Review options for generating the revenue sufficient to fund the costs of constructing necessary infrastructure; and

(5) Review and determine additional needs for enforcement of food waste diversion from the municipal solid waste stream.

(d) On or before January 15, 2018, the solid waste infrastructure advisory committee shall submit to the senate and house standing committees with jurisdiction over solid waste management a report that includes the information and data developed under subsection (c)."

SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

SECTION 4. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

SECTION 5. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	3087
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII