A major obstacle to shipping Hawai'i's garbage to the Mainland may soon be removed, but whether the counties will embrace the concept remains to be seen.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week released draft rules that would allow the practice. The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service regulates the importation and interstate movement of garbage. At least two Mainland-based waste-disposal companies told The Advertiser yesterday they were among those that had petitioned the USDA for the rule change, citing their interest in entering the Hawai'i market.

Honolulu officials said shipping garbage is an option, but not a preferred one. An official with Hawai'i County, however, said that municipality may take up the option.

Transporting garbage from Hawai'i to the continental U.S. is not allowed because of environmental concerns about the introduction of animal or plant pests. The proposed regulations are designed to safeguard against such worries. Agricultural and yard waste would still be barred.

Both Honolulu and Hawai'i County have been struggling to find ways to deal with their waste streams. Kapolei's Waimanalo Gulch Landfill, the only such facility on O'ahu, is nearing capacity. On the Big Island, the Hilo Landfill also is nearly full, which would leave the county with only the Pu'uanahulu Landfill in Kona, a two-hour drive away.

Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann had said he was willing to take a closer look at the idea.

But Bill Brennan, a spokesman for Hannemann, said yesterday: "The administration's position is that it is not feasible at this time to ship our waste, and we are concentrating our efforts on alternate technologies and green-waste recycling."

Martin Okabe, executive assistant to city Environmental Services Director Eric Takamura, said shipping garbage off-island will likely be investigated in an updated solid-waste management plan next year.

The preferred alternative, Oka-be said, is alternative waste-to-energy technologies that would augment the city's existing H-Power electrical generating plant. The intent is to use technologies that make the solid waste stream so small that it wouldn't need to be put on a barge, he said.

Additionally, he said, "we wouldn't want to be dependent on that solution." Shipping garbage to the Mainland would tie the island's waste disposal needs to the whims of a receiver state and the shipping industry.

Dixie Kaetsu, managing director to Big Island Mayor Harry Kim, said the county hopes to get permission to expand the Hilo Landfill for about another two years.

After that, she said, "we're looking for a long-term waste reduction technology" that could meet East Hawai'i's needs.

Kim has stated that the county will not truck waste from the east side to Pu'uanahulu, Kaetsu said.

"Therefore, what we are very interested in looking at is the possibility of shipping garbage to the Mainland for an interim period until a waste reduction technology comes on line," she said.

Prices quoted by at least one of the companies "was not unreasonable," Kaetsu said.

Jim Hodge, chief executive officer of Seattle-based Hawaiian Waste Systems, said his company wants to bale and shrink-wrap garbage here and ship it to Roosevelt Landfill in south-central Washington state.

"Right now, it takes from Alaska and all of the Pacific Northwest," Hodge said. The waste from Alaska is shipped by barge to a port off the coast of Washington, and then transported by rail the rest of the way, he said.

Hodge says his company can offer a good price to the Hawai'i municipalities. He said he has had talks with officials in Ho-nolulu and on the Big Island, and has had "an initial discussion" with Kaua'i officials.

Fred Perez, chief executive officer of Idaho Waste System, confirmed that his company also was among those who requested the USDA draft rules. He referred other questions to a colleague who could not be reached for comment.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.