STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3277

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2386

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2386, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit any waste or disposal facility from being located in a conservation district, except in emergency circumstances to mitigate significant risks to public safety and health; and

(2) Require no less than a one-half mile buffer zone for the construction, operation, modification, or expansion of a waste or disposal facility.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Iron workers Stabilization Fund; Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; Moku o Keawe, Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs – Hawai‘i Council; International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 665; UNITE HERE! Local 5; Prince Kūhiō Hawaiian Civic Club; International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142; Hawaii State Teachers Association; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1186; Hawaii Building and Construction Trades Council; Sierra Club of Hawai‘i; Surfrider Oahu; Ke One O Kākuhihewa, O‘ahu Council of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; SAG-AFTRA; Pride at Work Hawaii; Moku o Manokalanipō, Kaua‘i Council of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; Surfrider Foundation; United Public Workers; and seven individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Health; General Contractors Association of Hawaii; and PVT Land Company, Ltd. Your Committee received comments from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee finds that conservation districts are protected lands that should not be used for waste disposal facilities. Your Committee further finds that persons residing near landfills, including residents of the Ma‘ili and Nanakuli communities, suffer negative health impacts and a lowered quality of life. This measure protects Hawaii's conservation lands and public health by requiring buffer zones for waste or disposal facilities and restricting their placement on conservation lands.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a definition of the term "buffer zone";

(2) Exempting from the buffer zone requirement the continued operation of an existing waste or disposal facility that is properly permitted; provided that continued operation does not require a physical expansion, vertical or horizontal, of the facility requiring additional permitting review and a permit modification; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2386, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2386, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair