| 41 | | - | WHEREAS, waste combustion facilities are among the largest sources of industrial air pollution; and WHEREAS, in many cases, the current technology used to monitor pollutants in the State is obsolete and fails to produce accurate data on the types and amounts of pollutants emitted; and WHEREAS, at waste combustion facilities in the State, only four air pollutants are typically monitored on a continuous basis, while others, if tested at all, are tested only once per year under optimal operating conditions; and WHEREAS, this lack of continuous monitoring and sampling means that pollutants are not being monitored during startup, shutdown, and malfunction conditions, when certain pollutants are known to be released in higher amounts; and WHEREAS, dioxins are one of the most toxic man-made chemicals known to science; and WHEREAS, the failure to deploy continuous sampling technology in the United States results in underestimating dioxin emissions by 460 to 1,290 times; and WHEREAS, continuous monitoring and sampling technologies must be implemented at waste combustion facilities and solid waste landfills to ensure that owners or operators frequently monitor, sample, and report the emissions of contaminants, including at times when higher levels of pollutants may be released; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that the Department of Health (Department) is requested to study the feasibility of requiring waste combustion facilities and municipal solid waste landfills to implement continuous monitoring and sampling technologies that have been tested and verified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study is requested to consider the feasibility of requiring: (1) The owner or operator of any waste combustion facility to develop plans to continuously monitor or sample emissions of the following contaminants: (A) Carbon dioxide; (B) Carbon monoxide; (C) Sulfur dioxide; (D) Nitrogen oxides; (E) Ammonia; (F) Hydrochloric acid; (G) Hydrofluoric acid; (H) Particulate matter (total, PM10, and PM2.5); (I) Volatile organic compounds (VOCs); (J) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); (K) Dioxins or furans; (L) Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); (M) Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); (N) Arsenic; (O) Beryllium; (P) Cadmium; (Q) Hexavalent chromium; (R) Lead; (S) Manganese; (T) Mercury; (U) Nickel; (V) Selenium; and (W) Zinc; (2) The owner or operator of any municipal solid waste landfill to develop a plan to continuously monitor or sample emissions of a separate list of contaminants that the Department establishes; and (3) The Department to host an emissions data disclosure website to collect emissions data and alert owners or operators, the Department, and any other parties who enroll to be notified of any violations of data availability requirements or exceedances of air pollution limitations; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2025; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department is requested to seek funding from users of waste facilities to fund the development of the emissions data disclosure website; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health. Report Title: Department of Health; Waste Combustion Facilities; Municipal Solid Waste Landfills; Pollution |
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| 41 | + | WHEREAS, waste incineration facilities typically emit large amounts of pollutants into the air every day they operate; and WHEREAS, although waste incineration facilities are monitored for pollutants, the technology employed is typically dated, and advancements in technology have enabled modern methods to gather much more extensive data to determine, for example, the effects of pollutants on public health; and WHEREAS, in Hawaii, of twenty-two known pollutants emitted by waste incineration facilities, nine are not monitored at all, including per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances and various toxic metals, nine are monitored just once a year, and only four are monitored continuously; and WHEREAS, naturally, the levels of emissions of the nine pollutants that are not monitored is unknown; and WHEREAS, monitoring once a year is inadequate because it may severely underestimate the pollution levels, as shown by the Covanta Delaware Valley waste incinerator in Chester, Pennsylvania, where annual monitoring was replaced with continuous monitoring, which found that hydrochloric acid emissions were sixty-two percent higher than what annual monitoring showed; and WHEREAS, among the pollutants monitored just once a year in the State are dioxins, which are so toxic that the Environmental Protection Agency has set a limit that is equivalent to thirty grams of dioxin per trillion liters of drinking water, and a recent study found that failure to use continuous monitoring technology at waste incineration facilities underestimates dioxin emissions by 460 to 1,290 times; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that the Director of Health and the Chief Energy Officer are requested to continuously monitor air pollutants emitted by waste incineration facilities; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Mayor of each of the counties, Director of Health, and Chief Energy Officer. OFFERED BY: _____________________________ Report Title: Pollution, Waste Incineration, Hazardous Materials |
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