HB2723 HD1

Report Title:

Food Waste Recycling; County Requirements Established

Description:

Requires counties to establish requirements for separate collection and recycling of food waste by specified restaurants, food courts, hotels, markets, and other businesses; requires inspections and dissemination of information on requirements. (HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2723
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to counties.

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that waste disposal is an issue of critical importance throughout the islands, particularly for county governments faced with limited landfill capabilities in the face of renewed economic expansion. Section 226-15, Hawaii Revised Statutes, declares that "it shall be the policy of this State to . . . promote re-use and recycling to reduce solid and liquid wastes and employ a conservation ethic."

The legislature further finds that despite this statewide policy, recycling efforts still reduce only a fraction of the solid and liquid waste generated. In order to achieve this goal, current recycling efforts must be encouraged and expanded at the county level.

The purpose of this Act is to require the counties to establish a program for recycling food waste.

SECTION 2. Chapter 342G-25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The program element shall include at a minimum:

(1) A waste stream assessment component;

(2) A source reduction component;

(3) A recycling and bioconversion component;

(4) An energy-balance component;

(5) A special waste component;

(6) A household hazardous waste component;

(7) A public education and information component;

(8) A landfill and incineration component;

(9) A marketing and procurement of materials component;

(10) A program implementation component; [~~and~~]

(11) A program funding component[.]; and

(12) A food waste recycling program."

SECTION 3. Section 342G-26, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§342G-26 Contents of the program element. (a) The waste stream assessment component shall describe and explain the origin, composition, and weight or volume, or both, of solid waste generated within the county during the year in which the plan is being developed, or during the subsequent years when a revised plan is being developed.

The component shall include data that are reasonably representative of, and that reflect information that considers, seasonal and year-round patterns in waste generation. The data developed in this component of the initial county plan shall serve as the baseline for future measurement of the percentage of waste reduced through source reduction, recycling, and bioconversion programs. For each revised plan, the component shall provide a quantitative estimate of the amount of each type of solid waste that was reduced through recycling and bioconversion during the previous planning period. The revised plan shall also include an estimate of reduction that has resulted from source reduction efforts, to the extent that the reduction can be quantified.

(b) The source reduction component shall identify and evaluate specific measures for achieving source reduction, including, but not limited to:

(1) Increased efficiency in the use of all materials;

(2) Replacement of disposable materials and products with reusable materials and products; and

(3) Reduced packaging.

(1) The level of waste reduction the county is achieving through existing recycling and bioconversion efforts;

(2) The type and amount of solid waste that it is technically and economically feasible to recycle or alter through bioconversion; and

(3) Methods to increase and improve the recycling and bioconversion efforts, including opportunities for backyard composting.

For recycling, the counties shall assess the type and amount of solid waste that it is technically feasible to recycle, giving consideration at a minimum to clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic cans, high-grade office paper, newsprint, mixed paper, corrugated paper, HDPE, PET, and green waste.

For bioconversion, the counties shall assess the type and amount of solid waste that it is technically feasible to alter through bioconversion, giving consideration at a minimum to green waste, wood waste, animal manure, sewage sludge, and food wastes.

(d) The energy-balance component shall describe the programs by which the county will investigate or incorporate ways of increasing the energy efficiency of the solid waste management process, including the assessment of energy and fuel-production options such as composting, anaerobic digestion, acid hydrolysis, production of liquid fuels, incineration, or a combination thereof. The energy component shall identify and assess:

(1) The amount of energy input, including, but not limited to, electrical power, gasoline, diesel fuel, coal, natural gas, propane, kerosene, and heating oil, required by the plan for the accomplishment of collection, recycling, composting, bioconversion, waste handling, disposal, and landfilling;

(2) The amount of energy produced from the waste, including electricity, natural gas, hydrogen, and liquid fuels such as ethanol or methanol;

(3) The net energy use or energy production attributable to the solid waste program. Where feasible, this assessment shall include energy used in the original manufacture of these goods. National averages of energy consumed may be incorporated in these estimates; and

(4) Methods by which net energy use may be decreased or net energy or fuels production may be increased.

(e) The special waste component shall describe the existing waste handling and disposal practices for special wastes, including, but not limited to, asbestos, used oil, petroleum-contaminated soil, lead acid batteries, municipal waste combustion ash, sewage sludge that is not hazardous waste, agricultural and farm-generated wastes, medical wastes, tires, white goods, and derelict vehicles. The component shall identify current and proposed programs to ensure the proper handling, reuse, and long-term disposal of special wastes.

(f) The household hazardous waste component shall:

(1) Assess the quantity and type of hazardous wastes generated by residences in the county;

(2) Describe current collection, recycling, and exchange programs, as well as current methods of disposing of household hazardous waste; and

(3) Develop programs for the collection of household hazardous wastes that protect the public and the environment from these substances. The household hazardous wastes collected by the counties shall be disposed of by a state program. A county may petition the director to be exempt from this paragraph if the county demonstrates to the director's satisfaction the adequacy of its current methods of household hazardous waste collection, recycling, exchange, and disposal to protect public health and the environment.

(g) The public education and information component shall describe the programs that the county will use, in coordination with the efforts of the office, to:

(1) Provide comprehensive and sustained public notice of the options for alternate source reduction, recycling, and bioconversion, and for the proper handling of household hazardous and special wastes; and

(2) Distribute information and educational materials regarding general solid waste issues through the media, schools, and community organizations.

(h) The landfill and incineration component shall:

(1) Assess the county's current landfill capacity and ways to extend that capacity;

(2) Assess the availability of land for future landfills;

(3) Estimate the amount of waste currently going into incineration facilities and the remaining available capacity;

(4) Estimate the amount of ash generated at incineration facilities; and

(5) Describe provisions for ash disposal.

(i) The marketing and procurement of materials component shall describe:

(1) Existing county, state, or other markets for materials diverted from the solid waste stream;

(2) Methods to increase access to markets, including the promotion of local uses for materials derived from solid waste; and

(3) Methods to promote the procurement of recycled materials by county agencies.

(j) The program implementation component shall define:

(1) Specific tasks and responsibilities;

(2) Schedules for implementation;

(3) Identification of proposed ordinances, contracts, and other guidelines; and

(4) Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of the county plan.

(k) The program funding component shall:

(1) Provide for each of the components, where applicable, the estimated cost to the county of program implementation; and

(2) Demonstrate the county's economic self-sufficiency in managing solid waste pursuant to the implementation of the approved plan. This includes the identification of county funding sources that will be used to implement the plan, and other viable sources of funding that have been identified or are anticipated.

(l) The counties' food waste recycling component shall consist of:

(1) Approving recycling facilities for food waste;

(2) Identifying and assessing levels of waste reduction the county is achieving through existing food waste recycling and bioconversion efforts;

(3) Identifying and assessing the type and amount of food waste that it is technically and economically feasible to recycle or alter through bioconversion;

(4) Identifying and assessing methods to increase and improve food waste recycling and bioconversion efforts; and

(5) Including a food waste recycling program.

(m) As part of the food waste recycling and bioconversion component described in subsections (c) and (l), the counties' food waste recycling program shall include the elements described in this subsection. The owners of the following food establishments shall arrange and provide for the separate collection of food waste and for its recycling by a recycling facility in the county; or separate food waste from all other solid waste generated by the food establishment and deliver the food waste to a recycling facility:

(1) A restaurant that serves two hundred or more prepared meals per day based on an annualized average; provided that if a restaurant is also a catering establishment, it shall be considered a restaurant for purposes of this part; and provided further that if a restaurant has on its premises a place where the primary method of service, for all mealtimes, is food and drink orders taken and served to customers at an over-the-counter or self-service counter, that portion of the premises devoted to the taking and serving of such food and drink orders, and any dining area serving customers of such self-service counter, shall be counted in determining the number of prepared meals served by the restaurant;

(2) A food court; provided that the company or entity that manages the shopping center or building where the food court is located shall be required to comply with the requirements of this part unless the owners of the food establishments in the food court are responsible for the disposal of their refuse, in which case the owners of those establishments shall be responsible for complying with this part;

(3) A hotel with a kitchen or kitchens and one or more banquet or function rooms; provided that the hotel shall be required to recycle a minimum of fifty per cent or more of the total food waste generated. For the purposes of this paragraph, a "kitchen" means that place that is not part of a restaurant and where food is prepared for hotel employees or functions on the hotel's premises;

(4) A market, food manufacturer, or processor shall be required to recycle a minimum of fifty per cent or more of the total food waste generated;

(5) A catering establishment that is not also a restaurant or part of a restaurant and which serves or sells two hundred or more prepared meals per day based on an annualized average;

(6) A hospital that serves two hundred seventy-five or more prepared patient meals a day based on an annualized average;

(7) A school that serves two hundred seventy-five or more prepared meals per day based on an annualized average; provided that if a public school does not meet the requirements of this part, the agency responsible for waste management and recycling in the county where the school is located shall notify the department of health of any violations; or

(8) A business that produces food waste; provided that the business shall be required to recycle a minimum of fifty per cent or more of the total food waste generated."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.