Oahu and Maui plastic bans postponed

Portions of the city’s disposable food ware ordinance banning plastic foam containers and single-use plastic utensils, plates and drink ware that were to have gone into effect Saturday have been pushed back to later in the month out of concern for food vendors hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city’s Department of Environmental Services said it was delaying the start date to Jan. 21 to give restaurants and other food operations more time to recover from nearly two years of coronavirus restrictions that have severely cut into their business.

Other sections of the ordinance went into effect April 1 after being postponed from Jan. 1 last year. Those mandate that food vendors provide disposable food ware to customers only upon request and ban city facilities, events and concessions from using and selling plastic foam containers.

The rules taking effect Jan. 21 are much stricter. Food vendors will not be allowed to sell, serve or provide single-use plastic food ware or use plastic foam containers, regardless of customer requests.

There are exemptions for the packaging of raw meat, uncooked eggs and prepackaged and shelf-stable food.

Businesses may apply for a two-year exemption from the Department of Environmental Services if the ordinance would cause significant hardship or if the business can provide evidence there are no reasonable alternatives for compliance.

After two years, businesses may seek a renewal of the exemption.

Those caught in violation of the ordinance face fines of between $100 and $1,000 for each day of noncompliance.

“Action to alleviate the economic hardship and inequity caused by the COVID- 19 emergency is necessary to prevent further harm to these food vendors and thus to the economic viability of the City,” wrote Department of Environmental Services Director Wes Yoko­yama in a memo to Mayor Rick Blan­giardi in early December asking for postponement of the measure.

Yokoyama will be stepping down from his post to return to his previous position as lead engineer and chief of the Division of Wastewater Engineering on Jan. 1.

Maui County also has pushed back the start date of an ordinance prohibiting businesses from selling and providing plastic foam and plastic disposable food ware.

That law also was supposed to take effect Jan. 1, but Mayor Michael Victo­rino announced Wednesday it was being postponed until March 1.

Victorino cited the nation’s supply chain problems as the reason.

“I want to support businesses that face enormous challenges in this ongoing pandemic,” he said in a statement.

“COVID-related supply chain disruptions have caused severe shortages of supplies and delays in shipping. I have provided this grace period to help businesses survive, while I remain in full support of this ordinance to replace plastic food ware with compostable alternatives.”

Under the ordinance, alternative disposable food ware made from nonplastic materials can be provided to customers upon request.

Jan. 1 remains the effective date of a new Honolulu city ordinance requiring each rail car in Oahu’s under-construction rail system to be equipped with automatic external defibrillators, devices that can diagnose cardiac arrhythmia and reestablish an effective cardiac rhythm.

The full 20.2-mile rail project is not scheduled to be completed until March 2031, but interim service for its first 10 miles to Aloha Stadium could begin as early as next summer.