HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 084 Draft 02 2014-2016OFFICE INFORMATION ONLY
Meeting: Environmental Management Committee — March 31, 2015
Action: Postponed indefinitely, 8 Ayes, 0 Noes, I Absent (Chung)
Re: Res 84-15 Draft 2; Comm. 127 (2014-2016 term)
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COUNTY OF HAWAII STATE OF HAWAII
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RESOLUTION NO. 84 15
(DRAT r 2 )
A RESOLUTION URGING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO MULTI-YEAR
CONTRACTS TO ESTABLISH REGIONAL AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIC
COMPOST OPERATIONS IN THE COUNTY OF HAWAII.
WHEREAS, Council Resolution No. 28-03, Draft 2, pursuant to Hawaii Revised
Statutes §342G-2, affirms that each county adopt solid waste management practices in the
following order of priority: (1) source reduction; (2) recycling and bioconversion, including
composting; and (3) landfilling and incineration; and
WHEREAS, Resolution No. 356-07, Draft 2, a resolution to embrace and adopt the
principles of zero waste as a long-term goal for Hawaii County, was adopted on December 19,
2007; and
WHEREAS, the 2009 County of Hawaii Integrated Resources and Solid Waste
Management Plan Update — The Path to Zero Waste identified that 55.5%, or 116,550 tons, of
the waste disposed at County landfills were paper and organic materials that could be composted,
thereby preserving valuable landfill space; and
WHEREAS, the 2009 Zero Waste Implementation Plan for the County of Hawaii states
that "While the County is moving towards increased diversion of discarded materials, focusing
on recycling and composting, 70% of what is currently generated continues to be landfilled, and
it is this material that will provide resources, revenue and jobs required to support the island's
sustainability."; and
WHEREAS, compost is organic matter that has been processed aerobically by
microscopic heterotrophic organisms and, in some systems, earthworms and micro -arthropods
are employed; and
WHEREAS, composting is important for the following reasons:
• Recycled organic matter lowers methane production in landfills;
• Creates a soil amendment that elevates the health and quality of soil;
• Provides carbon to soil, which is deficient in most farm systems;
• Increases the soil's ability to infiltrate and hold precious water;
• Reduces the need for synthetic, imported, expensive, polluting nitrogen;
• Reduces the need for imported phosphate and potassium;
• Increases the sustainability, yield, and quality of food raised on farm land;
• Creates quality jobs for making and applying compost; and
WHEREAS, in contrast to organic mulch, which is ground green waste and other
woody materials, compost has a higher value as it has undergone a significant degree of
microbial decomposition that requires controlled variables such as nutrient balance, moisture,
particle size, oxygen, and temperature; and
WHEREAS, all compost produced must meet the standards of the U.S. Composting
Council Seal of Testing Assurance Program, and compost applied to certified organic land and
crops must meet the standards of the National Organic Program; and
WHEREAS, the Director of the Department of Environmental Management has not yet
designed and implemented a County -wide plan to divert food, paper, and compostable organics
from landfills or incineration; and
WHEREAS, it is in the County's best interest to enter into multi-year contracts to establish
organic compost operations in the County; and
WHEREAS, the contract may additionally include a two-year transition period during
which the contractor(s) are not obligated to maximize the production of compost; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that it
strongly urges the Mayor to enter into multi-year contracts to establish regional and community-
based organic compost operations in the County of Hawaii.
2
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall transmit a copy of this
resolution to the Honorable Mayor William P. Kenoi, the Director of Environmental
Management, and the Director of Finance.
Dated at , Hawai`i, this day of , 20
INTRODUCED BY:
COUNCIL M BER. COUNTY OF HAWAII
COUNTY COUNCIL
County of I lawai`i
Ililo, Hawaii
I hereby cetlit; that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by
the vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCH, ofthe
Counts ofHawai i on
AIIYSI
ROLL
AYI!S NOES
ARS EX
. CHUNG.
DAVID
EOFF
ILAGAN
KANUHA
ONISHI
PALEKA
POINDEXTER
WILLG
Reference: C_177.3ZEMC
COUNTY CLERK CHAIRPERSON & PRESIDING OFFICER RESOLUTION NO. 84 is
(DRAFT 2)