STAND. COM. REP. NO. 84-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: H.B. No. 2147

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 2147 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE LANDFILL PERMITS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to reinstate the Department of Health's authority to permit federal municipal solid waste landfills.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, County of Hawai‘i Department of Environmental Management, and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that due to Act 73, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, the Department of Health lost its ability to permit federal municipal solid waste landfills and may be non-compliant with federal laws and regulations. Therefore, it is critical to insert the phrase "any federal agency" back into section 342H-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to avoid the loss of state program approval, under federal standards, for alternative liner and cover design and groundwater monitoring programs that may be more suited for local site conditions.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2147, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2147, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Water & Land.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection,

____________________________

NICOLE E. LOWEN, Chair