HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

143

TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH to promptly EXAMINE all ALLEGED VIOLATIONS in the SOLID WASTE recycling INDUSTRY AND to EQUitabLY ENFORCE pertinent LAWS AND RULES.

 

 

 


WHEREAS, while the solid waste recycling industry provides valuable services to communities in the State, it can also have devastating effects on health, safety, and the environment if companies do not comply with applicable laws and rules; and

 

WHEREAS, the Department of Health is authorized to enforce laws and rules enacted to protect and improve the health and safety of the citizens of Hawaii and the environment; and

 

WHEREAS, these laws and rules are intended to regulate, among other things, the operations of companies in the solid waste recycling industry to ensure that they are conducted in a responsible and safe manner and do not present increased risks to the health of Hawaii's citizens or to the environment; and

 

WHEREAS, these laws and rules include measures that proscribe or constrain certain conduct, including the manner in which companies handle potentially harmful materials, whether and to what extent substances may be discharged into the environment, and whether construction of facilities that may have environmental and safety impacts is permitted; and

 

WHEREAS, these laws and rules are necessary to ensure the continued positive impact of the solid waste recycling industry while minimizing any possible negative impacts to Hawaii's citizens and the environment; and

 

WHEREAS, it is believed that Island Recycling Incorporated, one of Hawaii's solid waste recycling companies, has committed numerous violations of these laws and rules over time, including operating or performing activities without proper permits, failing to comply with permit requirements, failing to comply with standards for handling and storage of potentially harmful materials, and failing to adequately protect against discharges of harmful materials into the environment; and

 

WHEREAS, it is also believed that Island Recycling Incorporated is continuing to violate laws and rules related to the protection of human health and the environment without timely response by the Department of Health; and

 

WHEREAS, allowing a company in the solid waste recycling industry to violate applicable laws and rules without swift action by the Department of Health not only presents risks of harm to Hawaii's citizens and the environment, but tarnishes the reputation of the industry and puts companies that operate within the rules and with a concern for the environment at an unfair disadvantage, and therefore encourages unlawful conduct; now, therefore,

 

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to promptly investigate all alleged violations of laws or rules pertaining to human health and the environment within its purview by companies operating within the solid waste recycling industry, including Island Recycling Incorporated, and timely issue any appropriate penalty, or order and ensure compliance with any necessary corrective action; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health timely provide a complaining or interested party with information regarding the status and results of any such investigation and any resulting penalty or order for corrective action; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health equitably enforce all laws and rules it is authorized to enforce against all companies operating within the solid waste recycling industry, with the goal of ensuring compliant, fair, and safe operations that promote the protection of Hawaii's citizens and lands; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health and the mayors and chiefs of police of the Counties of Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, and the City and County of Honolulu.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Recycling; Solid Waste; Department of Health