Federal officials have cleared the way for Hawaii's garbage to be shipped to the mainland, a process that has been mired in regulatory red tape for months, but it is unclear when the shipments might begin.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave approval yesterday to the trash shipments, said USDA spokesman Larry Hawkins. Still to be signed was a compliance agreement

between Hawaiian Waste Systems LLC, the Seattle-based company that won the bid to handle the shipments, and the USDA offices in Hawaii and Washington state.

Hawkins said that could be handled simply by faxing the documents to the various parties.

Hawaiian Waste faces other issues, including fines from the state Health Department and a deadline to ship the trash or face stiff penalties from the county. State and company officials were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Hawkins said the approval process was slowed because the company had “;submitted several different options for where they wanted to barge”; the trash, requiring the agency to examine each proposed port of entry. Each of the sites, along the scenic Columbia River on the Washington-Oregon border, were studied for impact on water quality and invasive species, with public input sought for each site. The final destination for the trash is the Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Klickitat County in south-central Washington.

Hawaiian Waste Systems has been collecting garbage since the fall and has been storing it in shrink-wrapped bales at two facilities in the Campbell Industrial Park area. With nearly 20,000 tons of garbage piling up as the regulatory process unfolded, the city has expressed both frustration and sympathy with the company.

The city rejected Hawaiian Waste Systems' bid at one point after it spent $10 million on a facility to handle the trash. More recently, city Director of Environmental Services Tim Steinberger has said it wants to give the company “;a chance to succeed.”;

The company's agreement with the city allows it to ship up to 100,000 tons of solid waste off island each year at a cost to the city of $100 per ton.

Once shipping begins, the company will be subject to random, unannounced inspections by USDA officials throughout the collection, baling and shipping process, Hawkins said.

Earlier this month, the state Health Department cited the company for several violations, including failing to start shipping the trash and storing the bales at un-approved sites. The company has requested a hearing on the violations, which were met with a $40,400 fine, said department spokeswoman Janice Okubo.