REPORT TITLE:
Roadside Herbicide Use


DESCRIPTION:
Requires state and county agencies responsible for roadside
vegetation maintenance to develop and implement an integrated
vegetation management (IVM) strategy to minimize the use of
herbicide. Establishes an roadside vegetation committee. (SD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO ROADSIDE HERBICIDE USE. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The maintenance of roadsides by state agencies
 
 2 presently involves the use of herbicides.  There is growing
 
 3 evidence that the use of herbicides may be harmful to human
 
 4 health, and there is growing concern about their contribution to
 
 5 nonpoint source pollution of streams, and coastal and ground
 
 6 water.  Hawaii county and many jurisdictions in other parts of
 
 7 the country have developed integrated vegetation management
 
 8 strategies which use nonchemical methods of vegetation management
 
 9 wherever feasible.  
 
10      The purpose of this Act is to require the development and
 
11 utilization of a strategy that integrates all vegetation
 
12 management alternatives into a cost effective, safe vegetation
 
13 management program to minimize the use of roadside chemicals.
 
14      SECTION 2.  Chapter 264, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
15 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
16 read as follows:
 
17      "�264-    Integrated vegetation management program.  (a)
 
18 All state and county governmental agencies responsible for the
 
19 maintenance of public roadsides shall adopt an integrated
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 vegetation management program that includes the use of
 
 2 nonchemical, nonmechanical, and nonmanual methods whenever
 
 3 feasible.
 
 4      (b)  An integrated vegetation management strategy for the
 
 5 control of weeds along public roads shall be designed to minimize
 
 6 maintenance costs and minimize chemical methods of integrated
 
 7 vegetation management.  The overall goal shall be the reduction
 
 8 and minimization of herbicide use.
 
 9      (c)  For the purposes of this section:
 
10      "Integrated vegetation management" means an approach to
 
11 vegetation management that uses the right tool for each
 
12 situation, including mechanical, manual, cultural, biological,
 
13 chemical, thermal, and structural methods.  Human health,
 
14 environmental, aesthetic, and economic concerns shall be
 
15 incorporated into the chosen control method as part of vegetation
 
16 management decisions.
 
17      "Nonchemical methods" means methods that reduce or eliminate
 
18 noxious plant and weed species, pest, or fungi through the use of
 
19 mechanical, manual, cultural, biological, thermal, structural,
 
20 and other methods of control.
 
21      (d)  There is created the roadside vegetation committee to:
 
22      (1)  Develop alternative roadside vegetation management
 
23           strategies;
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (2)  Develop and recommend an efficient process for quality
 
 2           roadside design and management;
 
 3      (3)  Identify pesticides that are unsafe;
 
 4      (4)  Identify, explore, and review roadside vegetation
 
 5           management practices;
 
 6      (5)  Initiate demonstration programs of environmentally safe
 
 7           roadside vegetation management; and
 
 8      (6)  Make advisory policy recommendations with respect to
 
 9           roadside vegetation management.
 
10      (e)  The committee members shall be appointed by the
 
11 director of transportation within sixty days from the date of
 
12 this Act.  The members of the committee shall include but not be
 
13 limited to:
 
14      (1)  A representative from the department of transportation;
 
15      (2)  A representative from each of the respective counties
 
16           of Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai;
 
17      (3)  A representative that is an expert in the field of
 
18           biodiversity;
 
19      (4)  A representative from the landscape architect
 
20           profession; and
 
21      (5)  A representative from the environmental community.
 
22      (f)  The committee shall elect a chairperson and vice-
 
23 chairperson from among its members.  A majority of the members
 

 
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 1 shall constitute a quorum.  The committee shall be placed within
 
 2 the department of transportation for administrative purposes.
 
 3 Members of the committee shall serve without compensation.  The
 
 4 committee shall meet at least twice a year and shall submit a
 
 5 report on the progress made to reduce herbicide use, including
 
 6 any recommendations for administrative or statutory changes, to
 
 7 the legislature not less than twenty days prior to the convening
 
 8 of each regular session of the legislature."
 
 9      SECTION 3.  The department of transportation shall submit a
 
10 preliminary report to the legislature not later than twenty days
 
11 prior to the convening of the 2000 regular session on the
 
12 progress and plans to comply with section 2 of this Act.
 
13      SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
14      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.