STAND. COM. REP. NO. 583

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 438

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 S.B. No. 438 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit the construction, modification, or expansion of any waste or disposal facility for hazardous waste or solid waste on land that is near or above a significant aquifer as determined by the Department of Health, in consultation with the Commission on Water Resource Management; and

(2) Prohibit a waste or disposal facility on class A and B agricultural land.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, IBEW Local 1260, Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, Green Party of Hawaiʻi, Free Access Coalition, Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau, Kupuna for the Moopuna, Faith Action for Community Equity, and twenty-five individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of the Mayor of the County of Maui, Department of Environmental Management of the County of Hawaiʻi, and two individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Services of the City and County of Honolulu, Energy Justice Network, Hawaiʻi Environmental Change Agents–Solid Waste Reduction Task Force, and three individuals.

Your Committees find that the search for a new landfill for the City and County of Honolulu cannot be prioritized over the protection of Oahu's freshwater aquifers. Your Committees further find that the State's prime agricultural land should also be protected, preserved, and reserved for agricultural and related uses. Therefore, your Committees believe a new landfill should not be located on those agricultural lands. By prohibiting waste disposal facilities near aquifers and agricultural land, this measure promotes the conservation of the State's natural resources and the protection of the State's ecosystems.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a definition for "significant aquifer" to mean a freshwater aquifer with the potential for use as a drinking water source;

(2) Inserting language to prohibit a person from utilizing fly ash, bottom ash, or a combination of fly ash and bottom ash from a municipal waste combustor, including any ash residue that remains after removal of metals for recycling into new metal products, for the purposes of road building, construction, or as alternative daily cover material on a landfill;

(3) Inserting language to require fly ash, bottom ash, or a combination of fly ash and bottom ash from a municipal waste combustor to be disposed of in a double-lined and duly licensed municipal solid waste or hazardous waste landfill;

(4) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(5) Inserting an effective date of December 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

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 S.B. No. 438, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 438, 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