STAND. COM. REP. NO. 213________

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.B. No. 941
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Agriculture and Energy and Environmental
Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 941 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FERTILIZERS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committee, is
to provide standards for waste-derived commercial fertilizers by:

     (1)  Authorizing the Department of Health (DOH) to establish
          standards for commercial fertilizers that are wholly or
          partly derived from hazardous waste and other standards
          with regard to the regulation of commercial
          fertilizers; and

     (2)  Requiring DOH to establish standards for allowable
          levels of nonnutritive metals in commercial
          fertilizers.

     Hawaii's Thousand Friends submitted testimony in strong
support of the measure.  DOH submitted testimony in support of
the intent of the measure.  The Department of Agriculture and the
Hawaii Agriculture Research Center submitted comments on this
measure.

     Your Committees note that the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency is considering adoption of an act that is similar to the
Canadian Fertilizers Act and will be conducting extensive
research and analysis on the environmental and health effects of
recycling hazardous waste products into commercial fertilizers.

 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 213________
                                 Page 2

 

     Upon careful consideration, your Committees have amended
this bill by:

     (1)  Deleting the substance and inserting new material that
          prohibits the importation into the State of any
          commercial fertilizer that does not meet the allowable
          levels of nonnutritive metals in commercial fertilizers
          as specified in the Canadian Fertilizers Act, as
          amended; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendment for clarity.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your
Committees on Agriculture and Energy and Environmental Protection
that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord
with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 941, as amended herein,
and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached
hereto as H.B. No. 941, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee
on Health.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committees on Agriculture and
                                   Energy and Environmental
                                   Protection,

                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
______________________________     ______________________________
HERMINA M. MORITA, Chair           FELIPE P. ABINSAY, JR., Chair