STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2055

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 2177

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, Energy and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2177 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RESEARCH AND BIOREMEDIATION OF MATERIAL DREDGED FROM STATEWIDE WATERWAYS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purposes of this measure are to appropriate $400,000 for additional research and bench scale testing of material dredged from the Ala Wai Canal and other waterways statewide and to authorize issuance of $1,750,000 in general obligation bonds for design and construction of a pilot bioremediation facility.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the United States Navy, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Office of Environmental Quality Control, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Pacific International Center for High Technology Research, Life of the Land, Hawaii Water Environment Association, and Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board No. 5.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii's environmental science and technology industry and the University of Hawaii have made significant strides in increasing the education and technical competence and capacity for the bioremediation industry. Major projects in the State have been successful in demonstrating the efficacy of bioremediation in treating municipal and industrial wastewater, pesticide contaminated soils and water, and petroleum contaminated soils and water.

Your Committee also finds, however, that nearly all of the contaminated soils in Hawaii are placed in containers and shipped to the mainland for processing and disposal at a very high cost to Hawaii businesses. There has been wide interest in the development of resource recovery activities in the State to minimize ocean disposal and land filling of solid waste materials, as well as an economic development opportunity through the beneficial use of remediated materials.

Your Committee is supportive of further research and incentives if it will provide for the formal development of a bioremediation facility in Hawaii.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, Energy and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2177 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, Energy and Environment,

____________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair