Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 481 Draft 01 2012-2014 COUNTY OF HAWAII illl+:6 .'- • STATE OF HAWAII 1r •..#Os . . _. RESOLUTION NO. 481 14 A RESOLUTION URGING THE HAWAII STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE TO DENY BIG ISLAND DAIRY'S PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE HAWAII ADMINISTRATIVE RULES, WHICH WOULD ALLOW WAIVER FROM MINIMUM PRICES FOR MILK. WHEREAS, pursuant to the Milk Control Act, Chapter 157, Part IV of the Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS), and the corresponding administrative rules for milk control, Chapter 60, the State Board of Agriculture currently sets minimum prices and quotes for the production of milk for Hawai`i County, which is designated as the Hawai`i milk shed; and WHEREAS, as provided in HRS, Section157-32, the purpose for setting a minimum price for milk, among other things, is to assure the production of an adequate supply of milk; and WHEREAS, there are two large dairies in Hawai`i County, Clover Leaf Dairy located in North Kohala and Big Island Dairy located in `O`okala, as well as other small or start-up dairies, including Mauna Kea Moo,Naked Cow Dairy, and Hawai`i Dairy Farms; and WHEREAS, Big Island Dairy is seeking to amend the administrative rules for milk control, specifically Section 4-60-10 relating to the minimum prices in the Hawai`i milk shed so that it can sell its milk below the minimum price set by the State Board of Agriculture; and WHEREAS, the proposed amendment to Hawai`i Administrative Rule 4-60-10(a) is as follows (language to be added is underscored): "§4-60-10 Minimum prices in the Hawaii milk shed. (a) Minimum prices to be paid by distributors or producer-distributors to producers or producer-distributors for fresh milk produced for sale in the Hawaii milk shed are established on the basis of the utilization for class I milk, class I skim milk, and class II milk as provided in this section. Upon petition by a producer or producer-distributor, the board may grant a waiver allowing the producer or producer-distributor to sell its milk at less than the minimum price if it is demonstrated that the lower price takes into consideration the standards for determining the minimum prices for milk set forth in section 157-32, Hawaii Revised Statues."; and WHEREAS, this rule change would allow Big Island Dairy to control the milk market through monopolistic leverage by undermining the minimum price other dairies can anticipate and plan for, which is likely to negatively impact the stability of the milk market; and WHEREAS, this proposed rule change contradicts the statutory scheme by including that the petitioner, here Big Island Dairy, would demonstrate that the waiver is consistent with the statutory standard set forth in HRS Section 157-32, which is the statutory standard for setting the minimum prices—not for some exception to the set prices; and WHEREAS, this proposed rule change is poorly written, as the only standard for determining whether the petition to allow for sale of milk at a lower price is not stated, but instead incorporated by reference to a standard set forth in the corresponding state statute; and WHEREAS, this proposed rule change would promote the stability of Big Island Dairy at the expense of other existing and start-up dairies, and as such is inconsistent with the Department of Agriculture's goal of promoting diversified agriculture; and WHEREAS, the proposed rule change reflects the contract terms that Big Island Dairy and distributor Meadow Gold expect to or in fact have already entered into, and representatives from other dairies have, at a public hearing, expressed concern that this is a behind the scene "done deal"; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that it urges the Board of Agriculture to deny the request for the proposed amendment to Section 4-60- 10 of the Hawai`i Administrative Rules. 2 BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall forward copies of this resolution to the Honorable Governor Neil Abercrombie; the Hawai`i Island Delegate of State Legislators; the Director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources; and the Members of the Board of Agriculture. Dated at Hilo , Hawai`i, this 6th day of August , 2014. INTRODUCED BY: / C UNCIL M1 BER, COUNTY OF HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL ROLL CALL VOTE County of Hawai`i AYES NOES ABS EX Hilo, Hawai`i EOFF X FORD X I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by ILAGAN X the vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the KANUHA County of Hawai`i on August 6, 2014 X KERN X ONISHI X ATTEST: POINDEXTER X WILLE X cci4/4 YOSHIMOTO X 9 0 0 0 Reference: C-968/Waived AWESC COUNTY CLERK CHAIRPERSON&PRESIDING OFFICER RESOLUTION NO. 481 14 3