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REPORT OF THE <br /> COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT <br /> DATE: May 1, 2012 Re: Comm. No. 674/Bill No. 233 <br /> PLACE: Council Chambers <br /> Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i <br /> TIME: 3:35 p.m. <br /> Council Chair and Members <br /> Hawai`i County Council <br /> Hilo, Hawai`i 96720 <br /> Your Committee on Environmental Management, to which was referred Communication <br /> No. 674/Bill No. 233, reports as follows: <br /> Bill No. 233, transmitted by Council Chairperson Dominic Yagong, via Communication 674, <br /> dated April 13, 2012, is an ordinance amending Chapter 20 of the Hawai`i County Code 1983 <br /> (2005 edition, as amended), by adding a new article relating to disposal of materials collected at <br /> transfer stations. It details the final disposition of the municipal solid waste (MSW) collected at <br /> County transfer stations. <br /> There were no public testifiers on this bill. Mr. Greg Goodale, Chief of the Department of <br /> Environmental Management's (DEM) Solid Waste Division (SWD), and Mr. Ivan Torigoe <br /> Deputy Corporation Counsel, were present in Hilo. Mr. Yagong stated this bill codified the <br /> current practice of the SWD with the handling and final disposition of the MSW and is in <br /> keeping with the consultant's recommendations in DEM's 2009 Integrated Resources and Solid <br /> Waste Management Plan Update. <br /> Mr. Goodale requested that the recyclables be specifically exempted from this bill. Mr. Yagong <br /> responded that the bill's language specifically referred to the MSW that is deposited in the <br /> chutes at the transfer stations. It did not affect the two-bin recyclables collected at various <br /> transfer stations, which were handled by contracted vendors and not SWD staff. <br /> Mr. Yoshimoto liked the emergency exemption clause, which allows for flexibility during <br /> disasters. Ms. Ford stated that the bill did not need amending because it relates only to the <br /> MSW that is transported to one of the two landfills and the recyclables do not wind up at the <br /> landfill. She further stated that this legislation is needed because the community felt deceived <br /> by the way the trucking of trash pilot study was conducted; and that there was public resentment <br /> over the trucking of East side MSW to the Pu'uanahulu Sanitary Landfill without public or <br /> Council notification and with no ability to comment. Mr. Yagong explained this legislation as a <br /> clear Council directive to the Administration that any changes need Council approval in an open <br /> and transparent process. <br /> EMC Rept. No.: 8 <br />