STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1223

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 969

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 969, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WASTE OR DISPOSAL FACILITIES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit the construction, modification, or expansion of any waste or disposal facility on land that is above a significant aquifer as determined by the Department of Health.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board No. 34, Free Access Coalition, Energy Justice Network, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, Hanalei Watershed Hui, Dole Food Co. Hawaii, Life of the Land, Green Party of Hawaiʻi, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition, Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi, North Shore Chamber of Commerce, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260, Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau, and forty-five individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Public Works of the County of Kauaʻi and three individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health, Department of Environmental Services of the City and County of Honolulu, Reworld, Prince Kūhiō Hawaiian Civic Club, and one individual.

Your Committees find that the placement of landfills and waste disposal facilities above significant aquifers introduces an unacceptable risk of leachate contamination, threatening drinking water sources that sustain communities and ecosystems. Your Committees further find that ninety-nine percent of the State's domestic water comes from underground aquifers and allowing landfill development over such a sensitive resource is unsafe and shortsighted. This measure ensures that all county and state agencies integrate aquifer protection into their solid waste management planning by establishing clear prohibitions against landfill construction in high-risk areas.

Your Committees note the concerns raised in testimony regarding the possible utilization of fly ash, bottom ash, or a combination of both, for the purposes of road building, construction, or as alternative daily cover material on a landfill and the potential to increase risk to the environment and public health if used for these purposes. Your Committees further note the testimony supporting the use of bottom ash to be used in asphalt to reduce disposal costs and save landfill capacity. Because an amendment relating to fly ash or bottom ash may not be germane to the purpose of this measure, your Committees have not included amendments regarding the disposition of ash from a waste or disposal facility and believe this disposition should be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Your Committees have amended this measure by inserting an effective date of December 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 969, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 969, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Water and Land,

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair