HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0645.036 2020-2022 P4 'cI FC
From: Zero Waste Big Island
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2022 12:00 PM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: DEM budget and program review, April 14@1:30pm CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAII
RECEIVED
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County Council special meeting by the Committee on Finance a
April 14th @?a 1:30pm
DEM Budget and Program Review#4
County Council - Committee on Finance,
I am writing to encourage the county council to take actions that would permit better funding to the Diversion Section
of the Department of Environmental Management. We would like the county council to take stronger political
leadership to address the budgetary constraints DEM is under: unreliable, inconsistent and insufficient funding that
comes out of general revenue from property taxes. There are much better and more direct ways to fund the waste
diversion programs that we need to protect our land and water. For example, a pay as you throw program would
directly collect disposal fees from consumers and incentivize the use of existing waste diversion programs. We could
also put in place more programs to collect fees at the point of purchase for specific items, such as vehicles, batteries,
and solar panels (just to name a few). We could also use our tax dollars for source reduction, not making waste in the
first place, through reusable container programs.
Landfilling is a choice, there are much better ways to reduce, reuse and recycle our resources, but these programs
require funding. I commend Council member Heather Kimball for exploring point of purchase disposal fee legislation
for batteries and solar panels. Another legislative action that would foster more waste diversion is passing bans on
certain hazardous waste items from landfilling. Legislation that sets county level waste diversion targets and timeline
to achieve would also be vital in increasing the amount of waste diverted from landfilling. We also need much better
and more convenient waste/recyclable collection systems for consumers. Simple things like improved signage at our
transfer stations would go a long way.
We are asking the county council to please take the lead in finding new and creative ways to fund programs that the
public want. The Environmental Management Commission has been kicking these ideas around for years, but no
action has been taken to implement these structural funding changes. I encourage the county council to reach out to
the EMC and utilize them as a resource to better understand what changes could be made to fund DEM.
Our only landfill on island is miles from the coastline and has a very thin lining that will eventually break down
allowing the leachate in all the "rubbish"were carelessly throwing into the ground to pollute our ocean and
potentially our drinking water. Please help us forge a new path of a more sustainable way to manage our resources
and reduce waste.
Jennifer Navarra
Coordinator
Zero Waste Hawai'i Island
Comm. NO.. LtO '
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