STAND. COM. REP. NO. 519

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 703

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Energy and Environment and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 703 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Increase the solid waste management surcharge to $1.25 per ton of solid waste disposed of in landfills or shipped out-of-state;

     (2)  Establish a solid waste management surcharge of 60 cents per ton of solid waste disposed of at waste-to-energy facilities that accept 150,000 tons or more of solid waste annually;

     (3)  Establish a surcharge exception for solid waste disposed of within the State at permitted or unpermitted waste-to-energy facilities that accept less than 150,000 tons of solid waste annually;

     (4)  Exempt ash disposed of in landfills that originates from a waste-to-energy facility from the solid waste management surcharge; and

     (5)  Define "waste-to-energy" facility.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from one individual.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the General Contractors Association of Hawaii.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

     Your Committees find that the solid waste management surcharge, last increased in 1997, is the primary funding mechanism for the Department of Health's solid waste regulatory program.  The surcharge also supports mandated solid waste activities including solid waste planning, waste minimization and diversion, lead-acid battery and tire recycling outreach, environmentally preferable purchasing tracking, and leaf blower enforcement.  However, these services have been eliminated due to a decrease in revenue and an increase in program costs.  Implementation of this measure will assist with solid waste program costs and allow the return of several mandated but eliminated services.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the solid waste management surcharges to unspecified amounts; and

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy and Environment and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 703, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 703, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy and Environment and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair

____________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair