21-04-28 EMC minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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have to be within the right-of-ways so they can pick up any abandoned vehicles. But when it’s on private properties, that can limit involvement. But let’s continue working that, figuring out ways to beautify the island. And if anybody had any questions about the report, please ask. 1. Legislative update Commissioner Cardwell asked about HB 1298, which is about moving $5 million from the beverage container deposit special fund and $1 million from the electronic device recycling fund. Her question was whether that will affect those programs, and if so, how. Mr. Hayducsko said we’ve already been impacted by COVID-19, where the Department of Health has given us fewer funds than they told us they were going to give us. So it is uncertain how those funds being transferred out of the designated funds will impact us in the long term but we’ve already been impacted. The money wassitting there, and we still got less money. We were designated to get over $200,000 to support our e-waste, as an example, and the Governor would not sign that. So the Department of Health actually sent that to the Governor and he would not sign that. We only ended up getting $99,500 because DOH could actually give us that without the Governor’s approval. We are already seeing an impact. And he would love to see our non-HI-5 glass program get fully funded, because the money was there and we couldn’t get it because of the current legislation. So we have definitely been impacted, but he is unable to answer directly how because the money was there and we still didn’t get the money.To his understanding the redirecting of the funds will be used to pay for their programs. Chair Adams asked about HB 1299, which was basically about stopping a special environmental management fund for the Department of Health and having the money go into the general fund, and the Legislature would have to decide whether to appropriate the money. It’s concerning when we are talking about having an enterprise fund for wastewater treatment if they are taking away the opportunity to have special fund money from everybody. There is a huge list of special funds that the State is garnishing to place instead into the general fund, to cover the shortfall from COVID-19. Will the American Rescue Plan funds make a difference, and the money will come back, who knows? It’s again one of those challenges of how do you get money, and use every avenue available. Commissioner Olson said a point of purchase disposal fee would be entirely a County function. The funding issue is “old news.” The State has done this continuously to the Counties because it meets its needs first. Chair Adams said the concept of expanded producer responsibility was discussed in the ISWMP. It’s also one of the things we’re looking at, with regard to enterprise fund approaches and dedicated funding. The biggest issue is whether we could get funds from a supplier that could go direct to the County and not through the State. If it goes through the State and then gets divided up, that seems to be where we are losing the money. Commissioner Olson said his understanding is as long as it is site specific – in other words, it’s electronics, it’s the bottle bills, it’s anything that is going to have a residual impact. Obviously, you’re not going to collect money over a loaf of bread. The wastewater treatment issues is 17