THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

31

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

URGING THE STATE AND COUNTIES TO ADHERE TO PRIORITIZATION AND TECHNIQUES RELATING TO SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL AS REQUIRED BY THE HAWAII REVISED STATUTES.

 

WHEREAS, Hawaii encompasses a unique and endangered environment, and, as an island state, a balance between natural resource protection and the demands of a growing human population within a limited habitable space is required; and

WHEREAS, visitors from around the world are drawn to Hawaii because of our lush, tropical environment, crystal blue waters, and fresh island fish, and their preservation is crucial to the future of our children and the livelihood of our State; and

WHEREAS, an increased population results in increased consumption, as well as increased pollution, and the relatively small size of our islands amplifies and more quickly reveals the impacts of solid and hazardous waste pollution; and

WHEREAS, our landfill sites are reaching, or even exceeding capacity, resulting in an untold number of illegal dumpsites containing solid and hazardous waste materials on private and state land, posing a threat to the health and welfare of local residents, as well as to the environment; and

WHEREAS, wastewater treatment plants are not designed to handle certain types of hazardous waste, and hazardous materials in landfills can pollute the ground water, surface water, and air; and

WHEREAS, a legislative task force has documented problems ranging from underground fires that have been burning for five years at a closed landfill on Maui, to more than eighteen thousand six hundred tons of junked vehicles stockpiled across the islands, and rampant illegal dumping state-wide; and

WHEREAS, in May 2003, the City and County of Honolulu was fined $542,459 by the Department of Health for violating solid-and hazardous-waste rules at an incinerator and landfill in Waipahu; and

WHEREAS, section 342J-1, Hawaii Revised Statues, states in pertinent part: "The Legislature finds that hazardous waste must be managed in a manner that protects the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the State and protects and conserves the State's natural resources and environment. Accordingly, the hazardous waste management program of this State shall be a preventative as well as a regulatory program that gives priority to: ...(3) The promotion of hazardous waste minimization, reduction, recycling, exchange, and treatment as the preferred methods of managing hazardous waste, with disposal to be used only as a last resort when all other hazardous waste management methods are ineffective or unavailable..."; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the House of Representatives concurring, that the State and counties are urged to explore and use remediation, reuse, restoration, and other techniques as a priority before considering solid and hazardous waste disposal, as required by the Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health; the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources; the Director of Transportation; the Chairperson of the Board of Regents and the President of the University of Hawaii; and the Mayors of the City and County of Honolulu, the County of Hawaii, the County of Kauai, and the County of Maui.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Solid and Hazardous Waste Disposal