The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) has established the Compost Reimbursement Program that may reimburse agricultural producers for the cost of purchasing compost, according to an HDOA press release issued on June 10, 2019.

Act 89, which was enacted in 2018, allocated $650,000 over a two-year period for the reimbursement of 50% of compost cost incurred by agricultural producers during fiscal year 2019 (July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019) and a portion of fiscal year 2020 (July 1, 2019, to March 30, 2020) not to exceed $50,000 per applicant per year.

The remainder of the three-year program has not yet been funded by the legislature.

“This reimbursement program is aimed at providing assistance to farmers to ease some of the operational cost relating to the purchase of composting material,” said Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, chairperson of the Hawai‘i Board of Agriculture.

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Under the reimbursement program, compost must be purchased from a certified processor, retailer or wholesaler licensed to do business in Hawai‘i. In addition, certified Hawai‘i processors are limited to those companies regulated under the Hawai‘i Department of Health’s Solid Waste Management Program.

Qualified applicants must also provide a W-9 tax form, sample invoice and proof of compliance with federal, state and county tax and business regulations.

For more information and to download the application forms, go online.

Download the Compost Reimbursement Fact Sheet.