STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2183

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2485

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2485 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a temporary Solid Waste Management Working Group in the Office of the Governor to examine materials management policies and programs that reduce solid waste and protect the environment, and to present a list of alternative technologies to address solid waste management; and

(2) Require a report to the Legislature.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United, Energy Justice Network, Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi, and one individual.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Environmental Services of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committee finds that there is a persistent issue of solid waste management within the State. Currently, the permit for the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in Kapolei on Oahu is scheduled to expire in 2028. Because all counties in the State have limited landfill capacity, and landfills generate significant greenhouse gases, more needs to be done to reduce solid waste, produce less trash, and improve the State's organic waste stream to prevent high-value agricultural inputs from being diverted into landfills or incinerated. Therefore, this measure will help gather information on solid waste management technology alternatives to inform policies and programs to reduce solid waste.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2485, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2485, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair