Report Title:

SPRB; HPOWER Plant Boiler Addition

Description:

Authorizes the issuance of SPRBs for the planning, design, construction, and installation of a third boiler at the HPOWER waste-to-energy plant on the island of Oahu.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2469

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to the issuance of special purpose revenue bonds for HPOWER plant boiler addition.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the HPOWER plant at Campbell industrial park processes large amounts of municipal solid waste on a daily basis. It is estimated that the HPOWER plant processes approximately one thousand eight hundred tons of municipal solid waste a day and roughly five hundred sixty-one thousand tons per year. Despite the large volume of municipal solid waste that is processed annually at the HPOWER plant, a sizeable quantity of municipal solid waste remains. This remaining amount is in excess of the present capacity of the HPOWER plant.

The legislature finds that there is an urgent need to reduce the amount of municipal solid waste that must go to a landfill. The HPOWER plant was developed to expand the capacity of landfill sites and it has worked extraordinarily well to accomplish that goal. However, the present two boiler operation of the HPOWER plant requires that municipal solid waste be diverted to the landfill when the boilers at the HPOWER plant need to be maintained and refurbished. The HPOWER plant was designed to accommodate the addition of a third boiler in anticipation of the need for additional capacity in the future. That time is now. The installation of a third boiler will enable the HPOWER plant to accept municipal solid waste virtually all of the time. This in turn will significantly reduce the amount of municipal solid waste that must go to the landfill.

Further, the third boiler will generate additional electricity for the island of Oahu from a non-fossil fuel source. This will save the island of Oahu from importing additional quantities of oil beyond the amount already saved by virtue of the HPOWER plant.

For the foregoing reasons, the legislature finds and declares that the issuance of special purpose revenue bonds under this Act is in the public interest and for the public health, safety, and general welfare of the State.

SECTION 2. Pursuant to part IV, chapter 39A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the department of budget and finance, with the approval of the governor, is authorized to issue special purpose revenue bonds in a total amount not to exceed $93,000,000, in one or more series, for the purpose of assisting Covanta Honolulu Resource Recovery Venture, a Hawaii corporation, and the operator of the HPOWER plant, in the planning, design, construction, and equipping of a new boiler, pollution control equipment, and associated equipment for the expansion of the HPOWER plant. The legislature hereby finds and determines that the planning, design, construction, and equipping of a new boiler constitute a project as defined in part IV, chapter 39A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and the financing thereof is assistance to a processing enterprise.

SECTION 3. The special purpose revenue bonds and the refunding special purpose revenue bonds issued under this Act shall be issued pursuant to part IV, chapter 39A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to the power to issue special purpose revenue bonds to assist processing enterprises.

SECTION 4. The department of budget and finance is authorized, from time to time, including times subsequent to June 30, 2008, to issue special purpose revenue bonds in whatever principal amounts the department shall determine to be necessary to refund the special purpose revenue bonds authorized in section 2 and to refund special purpose revenue bonds authorized in this section, regardless of whether the outstanding special purpose revenue bonds or refunding special purpose revenue bonds have matured or are the subject of redemption or whether the refunding special purpose revenue bonds shall be bonds for the multi-project programs described in section 2. In making this determination, the department shall comply with federal law relating to the exemption from federal income taxation of the interest on bonds of the nature authorized by this section.

SECTION 5. The authorization to issue special purpose revenue bonds under this Act shall lapse on June 30, 2008.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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