HI SR51

Urges the City and County of Honolulu to exempt from real property tax all residential property owners living within one-half mile of an active municipal solid waste landfill or construction and demolition landfill.

Requests that Honolulu also grant property tax exemptions to residential property owners outside the one-half mile radius in neighborhoods deemed to have been significantly impacted by active landfill operations.

Cites scientific evidence that landfills cause negative health impacts including reduced lung function, asthma, and lung cancer, with studies showing effects up to two miles away depending on geography and local conditions.

References residents in Nanakuli census tracts near PVT Land Company's landfill who live ten years less than the state average of eighty-two years and experience the second and third lowest life expectancies in Hawaii.

Acknowledges that Act 73 (2020) addressed only future landfill operations and did not address existing health burdens on current residents living near active facilities.