STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3129

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2509

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Energy and Environment and Economic Development and Taxation, to which was referred H.B. No. 2509 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTRONIC DEVICE RECYCLING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to encourage recycling of electronic devices sold within the State by establishing an electronic device recycling program.

     Specifically, this measure establishes a state program for collection, recycling, enforcement, and monitoring of covered electronic devices, and provides program funding through an Electronic Device Recycling Fund.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Superintendent of Education; Retail Merchants of Hawaii; and the Sierra Club, Hawai‘i Chapter.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the University of Hawai‘i System; and Apple, Inc.  Comments were submitted by the Director of Health; Director of Finance; Director of the Department of Public Works, County of Kaua‘i; Covanta Energy Group; AT&T; Thompson Inc.; Information Technology Industry Council; Tax Foundation of Hawaii; Verizon Wireless; Motorola; and two private citizens.

     Your Committees find that, unless properly managed, pollution from discarded electronics can harm the environment and human health.  As electronics contain valuable resources such as copper, gold, and aluminum, valuable resources are lost for future use when discarded electronics are disposed of in landfills.  Therefore, this measure both protects the public from possible exposure to hazardous materials, and supports the public interest in recycling.

     The Department of Education and the University of Hawaii have suggested to your Committees that including government entities and computers and computers printers in the measure will assist schools in the disposal of obsolete or non-functioning electronic equipment.

     The Covanta Energy Group has suggested to your Committees that it is not feasible to separate specific materials, such as electronic devices, that are in the waste stream delivered to a waste-to-energy facility.

     AT&T has suggested to your Committees that telephone recycling is already extensively provided for under the industry's recycling program.

     Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Including government entities in the definition of "covered entities";

     (2)  Including computers and computer printers in the definition of "covered electronic device";

     (3)  Excluding all telephones, regardless of the size of the video display area from being a "covered electronic device";

     (4)  Providing that county authorized waste-to-energy facilities shall not be in violation of the electronic waste recycling provisions of this measure for electronic devices that enter the facility via the waste stream in the normal course of operations; and

     (5)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to ensure further discussion and consideration

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy and Environment and Economic Development and Taxation that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2509, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2509, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy and Environment and Economic Development and Taxation,

____________________________ CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair

____________________________ RON MENOR, Chair