HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

856

THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO WASTE MANAGEMENT.

 

 

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

 

PART I

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the use of composted organics benefits farmers, enhances soil health and the ability of the soil to sequester carbon, and reduces waste going into landfills and the subsequent methane emitted by this waste.

     The purpose of this Act is to support local farmers while addressing the urgent need to expand the State's capacity for capturing and processing the organic waste its residents and visitors generate to reduce landfill waste and reinforce the State's commitment to taking effective and immediate action to protect our climate.  This Act also clarifies that composting facilities are excluded from buffer zone requirements that apply to solid waste landfills and defines a class of artisan-scale composting operations, including the applicable regulations.

     SECTION 2.  Section 342H-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§342H-52  Prohibitions; buffer zones.  (a)  No person, including any federal agency, the State, or any county, shall construct, operate, modify, expand, or close a municipal solid waste landfill unit, or any component of a municipal solid waste landfill unit, without first obtaining a permit from the director.  All permits for municipal solid waste landfill units shall be subject to any terms and conditions that the director determines are necessary to protect human health or the environment.

     (b)  No person, including the State or any county, shall construct, modify, or expand a [waste or] disposal facility including a municipal solid waste landfill unit, any component of a municipal solid waste landfill unit, a construction and demolition landfill unit, or any component of a construction and demolition landfill unit without first establishing a buffer zone of no less than one-half mile around the [waste or] disposal facility.  This subsection shall not apply to the continued operation of an existing [waste or] disposal facility that is properly permitted; provided that continued operation does not require physical expansion, vertical or horizontal, of the facility requiring additional permitting review and a permit modification.

     For the purposes of this subsection:

     "Buffer zone" means the distance between the edge of waste or waste activity and the nearest residential, school, or hospital property line.

     ["Waste or disposal facility" excludes individual, state certified, non-industrial redemption centers.]"

PART II

     SECTION 3.  Chapter 225P, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§225P-     Artisan-scale composting program.  (a)  There is established within the department a class of artisan-scale composting operations that are sited on land zoned industrial or agricultural.  Each artisan-scale composting operation shall disclose their operation to the department and shall be exempt from requiring a solid waste management facilities permit; provided that such operations do not produce vectors, dust, or odors that unreasonably impact neighbors of the operation, as determined by the department; provided further that no waste accepted by the operation remains on-site for more than thirty-six months; provided further that treated lumber, sewage sludge, animal waste, fats, oils, and grease shall be accepted as waste by an operation.

     (b)  No more than one exempt facility specified in this section may be located on geographically contiguous land owned or operated by the same person.  Sufficient bulking agent shall be used to provide proper aeration and control leachate migration.  In order to maintain the compost permitting exemption, an artisan scale composting operation shall maintain documentation that the operation is in compliance with this section; provided that the documentation shall include but is not limited to the amount and type of waste accepted and when and where the finished compost is land-applied.

     (c)  All artisan-scale composting operations shall make records available for the department to review upon request.

     (d)  For the purposes of this section, "artisan-scale composting operation" means a composting operation that accepts, measured on a monthly average, no more than one cubic yard of green waste or yard trimmings, agricultural materials, vegetable and fruit waste, or coffee grounds and tea leaves per month at a site controlled and owned by the waste generator with the finished compost applied and controlled by the same waste generator."

PART III

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

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.

 

 

Report Title:

Solid Waste; Buffer Zone; Exemptions; Artisan-scale Composting Program; Department of Health

 

Description:

Part I:  Clarifies that composting facilities are excluded from buffer zone requirements.  Part II:  Establishes a class of artisan-scale composting operations.  Effective 7/1/2050.  (HD1)

 

 

 

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