STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2482

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2101

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2101 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ORGANIC WASTE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish statewide goals for solid waste reduction and organic waste diversion;

(2) Require each county to incorporate into its next integrated solid waste management plan revision a plan to reduce all organic waste produced within the county by facilities generating more than a specified amount of organic waste per year in alignment with established state benchmarks; and

(3) Appropriate funds.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Reef and Ocean Coalition, Hawaiʻi Food+ Policy, Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United, Solid Waste Reduction Task Force of Hawaii Environmental Change Agents, and two individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Environmental Management of the County of Hawaii.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

Your Committees find that every county in the State faces limited landfill capacity and struggles to site potential future landfills, making waste reduction an urgent priority. Solid and organic waste produced in the State, which is deposited into landfills are significant generators of greenhouse gases, directly impeding the State's ability to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. To further the State's commitment to climate mitigation policies, this measure will assist in reducing solid waste production and increasing organic waste diversion.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have established a new section in the Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter relating to Integrated Solid Waste Management, and instead inserting language into section 342G-26, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to require the recycling and bioconversion component of the waste stream assessment to identify and assess the timelines and benchmark goals to divert organic waste produced within the county by facilities generating organic waste;

(2) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

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

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2101, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2101, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair