STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 416

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1015

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 1015 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPOSIT BEVERAGE CONTAINER PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to exempt passenger vessels with a recycling plan prescribed or approved by the Department of Health from the requirements of the State's deposit beverage container law.

Currently, beverage distributors are not required to pay the deposit on containers exported for consumption outside the State. Applying this requirement to passenger ships and planes is problematic since it is difficult to determine whether deposit container beverages distributed for use on these vessels were consumed in-state or out-of-state. This tracking difficulty is worsened by the fact that beverage distributors are often one or two steps removed from the consumption phase, as they may work with ship and airline supply companies, rather than working directly with the passenger ship or plane company. Exempting passenger vessels with a recycling program prescribed or approved by the Department of Health from the deposit beverage container law addresses the tracking problem while ensuring that exempted vessels recycle beverage containers appropriately.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the Department of Health, Norwegian Cruise Line, the Northwest Cruiseship Association, and Aloha Airlines. The Hawai'i Chapter of the Sierra Club opposed the measure, noting that it is unclear what level of beverage container recycling must be achieved before a passenger vessel is exempt from the beverage container law, and pointing out ambiguities that may arise from the broad scope of the "passenger vessel" definition.

Your Committee has amended the measure by:

(1) Specifying that the exemption applies to "commercial" passenger vehicles;

(2) Specifying that the required recycling plan be a "deposit beverage container" recycling plan;

(3) Requiring that recycling plans be submitted to the Department of Health and include the name and address of the recycling company that is accepting the empty deposit beverage containers;

(4) Prohibiting deposit beverage containers covered under the exemption from being redeemed for the deposit or handling fee;

(5) Amending section 342G-101, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by:

(A) Adding new definitions for "commercial passenger vessel" and "patron"; and

(B) Amending the definition of "on-premises consumption" to clarify that it involves consumption by a person who does not pay the beverage container deposit;

(6) Deleting the proposed definition of "passenger vessel"; and

(7) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purpose of clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1015, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1015, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Transportation.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection,

		____________________________ HERMINA MORITA, Chair