STAND. COM. REP. NO332
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2001
RE: H.B. No. 662
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2001
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 662 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL PENALTIES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to:
(1) Change the fines and imprisonment terms for violations regarding the transportation, treatment, storage, disposal, and compliance documentation for hazardous waste and used oil; and
(2) Criminalize the knowing abandonment of hazardous waste or used oil.
Section 342J-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, provides for a criminal penalty of not more than $25,000 for each day of each violation, or imprisonment, not to exceed one year, or both, and for a second conviction, the fine and imprisonment increases to $50,000 and two years, respectively, for a person who knowingly:
(1) Transports hazardous waste to a nonpermit facility;
(2) Treats, stores, or disposes of hazardous waste without a permit, or violates the terms of the permit or variance;
(3) Transports, treats, stores, disposes of, recycles, or otherwise handles used oil or oil fuel in violation of Department of Health (DOH) rules; or
(4) Makes a false statement in any compliance documentation relating to used oil or oil fuel.
The bill, as received by your Committee, adds as a fifth prohibited act, the abandonment of hazardous waste or used oil as a class C felony, and imposes a fine not exceeding $25,000 for each day for each violation.
Further, the bill increases the penalties for the prohibited acts as follows:
(1) Violation of paragraph (1) or (2), above, as a class C felony, and imposes a fine not exceeding $25,000 for each day for each violation; and
(2) Violation of paragraph (3) or (4), above, as a misdemeanor, and imposes a fine not exceeding $25,000 for each day for each violation.
DOH submitted testimony in support of this measure. The Hawaii Agriculture Research Center submitted testimony expressing its concern that the lack of a definition for the term "abandon" would make a facility's mere failure to label a drum a class C felony.
After careful consideration, your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Defining "abandon" to mean the act of deserting or leaving behind a hazardous waste or used oil. It is not the intent of your Committee to mistakenly construe an unlabeled drum as an act of abandonment; and
(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 662, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 662, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection,
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____________________________ HERMINA M. MORITA, Chair |
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