Legacy pollution, next steps for CNMI solid waste management discussed at 2023 Territorial Climate and Infrastructure Workshop

ANNOUNCEMENTS | May 22, 2023

The CNMI Office of Planning and Development (OPD) brought forward the CNMI's infrastructure needs, challenges, and next steps for waste management systems including cleanup, revitalization, and recycling at the 2023 Territorial Climate and Infrastructure Workshop held from May 8 to 12, 2023 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The event and all related travel expenses were federally funded.

OPD Solid Waste Technical Analyst Matthew Nieswender presented on the CNMI's evolving solid waste management priorities, the progress made thus far in several of the CNMI's critical solid waste infrastructure projects, and next steps. In addition to emphasizing the need to address legacy pollution such as World War II-era unexploded ordnance, the CNMI's solid waste priorities include planning for, constructing, and operating waste management systems such as recycling and composting centers on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

Other priorities for CNMI solid waste management include permitting and designating small community exempt landfills for Tinian and Rota, alternative energy solutions for the Northern Islands and the Marpi Landfill on Saipan, and the completion of the CNMI Comprehensive Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan (CISWMP), a draft of which is projected to be completed by December 2023. Once finalized, reviewed, and approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the CISWMP will allow the CNMI to access $56 million dollars in Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act (ASADRA) funding administered by the EPA to the CNMI to support critical equipment purchases and solid waste implementation projects.

One critical solid waste management goal for the CNMI under SDG #12 is to, by 2030, divert 50% of the CNMI's recyclables away from the landfill to be composted, reused, or sold. Through the priorities shared by Nieswender at the workshop and other ongoing solid waste projects and initiatives in the CNMI, the goal is to make full use of the CNMI's recyclables, ensure that the CNMI's solid waste facilities are operated sustainably, and ensure that all solid waste goes to landfills that are compliant with all necessary environmental regulations.

More details on the SDGs and other long-term goals for the CNMI are discussed in the CNMI Comprehensive Sustainable Development Plan linked here: https://opd.gov.mp/assets/2021-2030_cnmi_csdp.pdf.

Hosted by the Office of Insular Affairs under the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Territorial Climate and Infrastructure Workshop brings together U.S. Territories and federal government agencies to identify and discuss climate and infrastructure-related development that can be supported through funding allocations from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

OPD was part of a CNMI delegation comprised of government agency heads, legislators, and other key leadership figures that attended the workshop and voiced the CNMI's many climate and infrastructure-related needs.

Along with OPD, other members of the Inter-island Solid Waste Management Taskforce that were represented at the workshop included the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, the Department of Public Works, and the Office of the Mayor of Tinian and Aguiguan.