RELATING TO WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES.

SB438

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

438

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING
TO WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES
.

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

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SECTION 1.
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The
legislature finds that the search for a new landfill for the city and county of
Honolulu cannot be prioritized over the protection of Oahu's freshwater
aquifers.
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In 2021, approximately twenty
thousand gallons of jet fuel leaked from the Red Hill bulk fuel storage
facility and contaminated the Pearl Harbor-Hickam water system that serves
ninety-three thousand military and civilian customers.
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The leak also affected the Honolulu board of
water supply, and the city and county has shut down three wells that supply
fourteen million gallons of water a day to urban Honolulu.
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Today, the Honolulu board of water supply is
in search of new wells that can supply urban Honolulu, which may not be ready
until 2025.
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To protect and preserve
fresh water, a new landfill cannot be built over a freshwater aquifer.

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The legislature further finds that prime
agricultural land should be protected, preserved, and reserved for agricultural
and related uses.
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Therefore, a new
landfill should not be located on those agricultural lands.

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The legislature further finds that the city
and county of Honolulu is required to relocate the Waimanalo Gulch sanitary landfill
by 2028.
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The county's department of
environmental services proposed six potential sites upon which to relocate the
landfill, and all sites were rejected by the landfill advisory committee
because of concerns that locating a landfill above freshwater aquifers may
damage the State's water sources.
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Act 73,
Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, prohibited waste or disposal facilities in a conservation
district, except in emergency circumstances to mitigate significant risks to
public health and safety.
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Furthermore,
the Act requires that there be a one-half mile buffer zone between residences,
schools, and hospitals and the construction, modification, or expansion of a waste
or disposal facility.

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The purpose of this Act is to prohibit the
construction, modification, or expansion of any waste or disposal facility for
hazardous waste or solid waste on land that is near or above a significant
aquifer, and to prohibit waste and disposal facilities on land in an
agricultural district having soil classified by the land study bureau's
detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A or
B.

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SECTION
2
.
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Section 205-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

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"(d)
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Agricultural districts shall include:

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(1)
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Activities or uses as characterized by the
cultivation of crops, crops for bioenergy, orchards, forage, and forestry;

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(2)
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Farming activities or uses related to animal
husbandry and game and fish propagation;

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(3)
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Aquaculture, which means the production of
aquatic plant and animal life within ponds and other bodies of water;

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(4)
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Wind-generated energy production for public,
private, and commercial use;

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(5)
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Biofuel production, as described in section 205‑4.5(a)(16),
for public, private, and commercial use;

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(6)
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Solar energy facilities; provided that:

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(A)
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This paragraph shall apply only to land
with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as
overall (master) productivity rating class B, C, D, or E; and

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(B)
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Solar energy facilities placed within
land with soil classified as overall productivity rating class B or C shall not
occupy more than ten per cent of the acreage of the parcel, or twenty acres of
land, whichever is lesser, unless a special use permit is granted pursuant to
section 205-6;

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(7)
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Bona fide agricultural services and uses that
support the agricultural activities of the fee or leasehold owner of the
property and accessory to any of the above activities, regardless of whether
conducted on the same premises as the agricultural activities to which they are
accessory, including farm dwellings as defined in section 205-4.5(a)(4),
employee housing, farm buildings, mills, storage facilities, processing
facilities, photovoltaic, biogas, and other small‑scale renewable energy
systems producing energy solely for use in the agricultural activities of the
fee or leasehold owner of the property, agricultural energy facilities as
defined in section 205-4.5(a)(17), vehicle and equipment storage areas,
and plantation community subdivisions as defined in section 205-4.5(a)(12);

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(8)
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Wind machines and wind farms;

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(9)
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Small-scale meteorological, air quality,
noise, and other scientific and environmental data collection and monitoring
facilities occupying less than one-half acre of land; provided that these
facilities shall not be used as or equipped for use as living quarters or
dwellings;

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(10)
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Agricultural parks;

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(11)
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Agricultural tourism conducted on a working
farm, or a farming operation as defined in section 165-2, for the enjoyment,
education, or involvement of visitors; provided that the agricultural tourism
activity is accessory and secondary to the principal agricultural use and does
not interfere with surrounding farm operations; and provided further that this
paragraph shall apply only to a county that has adopted ordinances regulating
agricultural tourism under section 205-5;

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(12)
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Agricultural tourism activities,
including overnight accommodations of twenty-one days or less, for any one stay
within a county; provided that this paragraph shall apply only to a county that
includes at least three islands and has adopted ordinances regulating
agricultural tourism activities pursuant to section 205-5; provided
further that the agricultural tourism activities coexist with a bona fide
agricultural activity.
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For the purposes
of this paragraph, "bona fide agricultural activity" means a farming
operation as defined in section 165-2;

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(13)
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Open area recreational facilities;

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(14)
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Geothermal resources exploration and
geothermal resources development, as defined under section 182-1;

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(15)
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Agricultural-based
commercial operations registered in Hawaii, including:

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(A)
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A roadside stand that is not an
enclosed structure, owned and operated by a producer for the display and sale
of agricultural products grown in Hawaii and value-added products that were
produced using agricultural products grown in Hawaii;

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(B)
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Retail activities in an enclosed
structure owned and operated by a producer for the display and sale of
agricultural products grown in Hawaii, value-added products that were produced
using agricultural products grown in Hawaii, logo items related to the producer's
agricultural operations, and other food items;

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(C)
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A retail food establishment owned and
operated by a producer and permitted under chapter 11-50, Hawaii administrative
rules, that prepares and serves food at retail using products grown in Hawaii
and value-added products that were produced using agricultural products grown
in Hawaii;

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(D)
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A farmers' market, which is an outdoor
market limited to producers selling agricultural products grown in Hawaii and
value-added products that were produced using agricultural products grown in
Hawaii; and

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(E)
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A food hub, which is a facility that
may contain a commercial kitchen and provides for the storage, processing,
distribution, and sale of agricultural products grown in Hawaii and value‑added
products that were produced using agricultural products grown in Hawaii.

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The
owner of an agricultural-based commercial operation shall certify, upon request
of an officer or agent charged with enforcement of this chapter under section
205-12, that the agricultural products displayed or sold by the operation meet
the requirements of this paragraph;

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(16)
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Hydroelectric facilities as described
in section 205‑4.5(a)(23); and

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(17)
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Composting and co-composting
operations; provided that operations that process their own green waste and do
not require permits from the department of health shall use the finished
composting product only on the operation's own premises to minimize the
potential spread of invasive species.

Agricultural districts shall not
include golf courses and golf driving ranges, except as provided in section
205-4.5(d).
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With respect to land that
is within the agricultural district and has soil classified by the land study
bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating
class A or B, agricultural districts shall not include waste or disposal
facilities as defined in section 183C-4.
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Agricultural districts include areas that are not used for, or that are
not suited to, agricultural and ancillary activities by reason of topography,
soils, and other related characteristics.
"

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SECTION
3
.
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Section 205-4.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

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"(b)
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Uses not expressly permitted in subsection (a) shall be prohibited,
except the uses permitted as provided in sections 205-6 and 205-8, and
construction of single-family dwellings on lots existing before June 4,
1976.
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Waste or disposal facilities as
defined in section 183C-4 are not permitted uses of land
that
is within the agricultural district and has soil classified by the land study
bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating
class A or B
.
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Any other law to
the contrary notwithstanding, no subdivision of land within the agricultural
district with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land
classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A or B shall be
approved by a county unless those A and B lands within the subdivision are made
subject to the restriction on uses as prescribed in this section and to the
condition that the uses shall be primarily in pursuit of an agricultural
activity.

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Any
deed, lease, agreement of sale, mortgage, or other instrument of conveyance
covering any land within the
agricultural subdivision shall expressly
contain the restriction on uses and the condition, as prescribed in this
section that these restrictions and conditions shall be encumbrances running
with the land until such time that the land is reclassified to a land use
district other than agricultural district.

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If the foregoing requirement of
encumbrances running with the land jeopardizes the owner or lessee in obtaining
mortgage financing from any of the mortgage lending agencies set forth in the
following paragraph, and the requirement is the sole reason for failure to
obtain mortgage financing, then the requirement of encumbrances shall, insofar
as such mortgage financing is jeopardized, be conditionally waived by the
appropriate county enforcement officer; provided that the conditional waiver
shall become effective only in the event that the property is subjected to
foreclosure proceedings by the mortgage lender.

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The mortgage lending agencies referred to
in the preceding paragraph are the Federal Housing Administration, Federal
National Mortgage Association, Department of Veterans Affairs, Small Business
Administration, United States Department of Agriculture, Federal Land Bank of
Berkeley, Federal Intermediate Credit Bank of Berkeley, Berkeley Bank for
Cooperatives, and any other federal, state, or private mortgage lending agency
qualified to do business in Hawaii, and their respective successors and
assigns."

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SECTION 4.
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Section 342H-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

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"
�342H-52

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Prohibitions; buffer zones.
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(a)
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No
person, including any federal agency, the State, or any county, shall
construct, operate, modify, expand, or close a municipal
solid waste landfill unit, or any component of a municipal solid waste landfill
unit, without first obtaining a permit from the director
.
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All permits for municipal solid waste
landfill units shall be subject to any terms and conditions that the director
determines are necessary to protect human health or the environment.

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(b)
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No person, including the State or a county,
shall construct, modify, or expand a waste or disposal facility, including:

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(1)
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A
municipal solid waste landfill unit;

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(2)
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Any
component of a municipal solid waste landfill unit;

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(3)
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A
construction and demolition unit; or

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(4)
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Any
component of a construction and demolition landfill unit;

for
solid waste or hazardous waste on land that is near or above a significant
aquifer, as determined by the department, in consultation with the commission
on water resource management.

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For the purposes of this subsection:

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"Hazardous waste" shall have
the same meaning as in section 342J-2.

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[
(b)
]

(c)

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No person, including the
State or any county, shall construct, modify, or expand a waste or disposal
facility including a municipal solid waste landfill unit, any component of a
municipal solid waste landfill unit, a
construction and
demolition landfill unit
, or any component of a construction and demolition
landfill unit without first establishing a buffer zone of no less than one-half
mile around the waste or disposal facility.
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This subsection shall not apply to the
continued
operation of an existing waste or disposal facility that is properly permitted;
provided that continued operation does not require physical expansion, vertical
or horizontal, of the facility requiring additional permitting review and a
permit modification
.

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For
the purposes of this subsection:

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"Buffer
zone" means
the distance between the edge of waste or waste
activity and the nearest residential, school, or hospital property line.

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"Waste
or disposal facility" excludes individual, state certified, non-industrial
redemption centers."

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SECTION 5.
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Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.
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New statutory material is underscored.

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SECTION 6.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED
BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Waste or
Disposal Facilities; Landfills; Solid Waste; Hazardous Waste; Aquifers; Agricultural
Districts; Prohibition; DOH; CWRM

Description:

Prohibits
the construction, modification, or expansion of any waste or disposal facility
for hazardous waste or solid waste on land that is near or above a significant
aquifer as determined by the Department of Health, in consultation with the
Commission on Water Resource Management; Prohibits waste or disposal facility
on class A and B agricultural land.

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not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.