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Joint Senate committees pass resolution to form statewide solid‑waste working group with amended membership and scope
Summary
The Senate committees on Agriculture and Environment and on Health and Human Services voted to pass SCR 104 / SR 85 with amendments directing the Department of Health to convene a working group on solid‑waste management and to broaden invited membership and reporting requirements.
The joint Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment and the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services advanced SCR 104 / SR 85 on a recommendation to pass with amendments, directing the Department of Health to convene a working group to review solid‑waste management and materials‑management policies.
The amendment package approved by the committees changes proposed language on landfill siting, expands the list of entities the governor is asked to invite to the working group, and clarifies reporting elements. Committee members removed several lines from the original text, specified the Waimanalo Gulch landfill location reference be changed to Kapolei, and directed that the working group’s report address materials‑management programs and a list of alternative technologies.
Ernest Lau of the Board of Water Supply and representatives from community groups including Hawaii REAP and the Energy Justice Network testified in support of the measure or provided comments. Multiple written-testimony submitters were read into the record during the hearing, including representatives listed as Laurel Bridal of the Kauai Climate Action Coalition, Rita Jordan of 0 Waste Hawaii, and Alan Burdick of the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.
Under the adopted amendments, the resolution requests the governor or the governor’s designee to invite: 0 Waste USA (listed in the transcript as a Hawaii‑based environmental nonprofit), representatives from the reuse and deconstruction industries, a landfill expert specializing in liner/leakage issues, an expert in unit‑based pricing, and a member of the military to address potential military‑land issues. The amendment also adds a provision that the governor or designee shall convene the working group’s initial meeting, at which members are to elect a chair who will convene subsequent meetings.
The committees voted to adopt the chairs’ recommendation to pass with amendments. The recorded affirmative votes in the hearing transcript include the chair (name not specified in the transcript), the vice chair (name not specified), Senator Hashimoto, Senator Keohokalole, Senator DeCoite and Senator Rhoads; Senator Fevella was excused and another member was listed as excused for a separate committee vote. The resolution was adopted by the joint session and the committees adjourned.
The measure now requests the Department of Health to assemble the working group and produce the report described in the amended language; the resolution asks that the governor invite the listed industry and expert participants. The resolution text as amended includes references to protecting groundwater, air and soil and to evaluating alternative technologies and materials‑management programs.
Testimony and committee discussion were limited in time; several community representatives were recorded as supporting the measure or standing on written testimony. The transcript records only the written testimonies read into the record and brief oral statements; the resolution text and a list of the amendments were read aloud during the decision session.
