USDA tightens rules for Hawaii garbage shipped to U.S. mainland

USDA tightens rules for Hawaii garbage shipped to U.S. mainland    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has published new rules that will allow under certain conditions the interstate movement of city garbage from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland for disposal.
   The rules, effective Sept. 22, require disposal companies to use USDA-approved bailing measures for garbage to prevent the spread of plant pests to the U.S. continent, in addition to meeting environmental protection laws.
   USDA said the bales will be transported to the United States from Hawaii on barges and unloaded in mainland ports onto trucks and railcars for disposal in landfills. The amount of garbage shipped from Oahu, Hawaii, to the U.S. mainland will range from 100,000 to 350,000 tons.
   The USDA said the rulemaking was developed in response to requests from private waste disposal companies and is based on “scientific evidence from a pest risk and environmental assessment.”