STAND. COM. REP. NO. 395

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 692

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Health and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 692 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PESTICIDES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Remove the warning notice for first violations of the Hawaii pesticides law; and

     (2)  Make it a class C felony for any person who causes physical harm to another person through the negligent application of a pesticide.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Hawaii Chapter; IMUAlliance; and six individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Pest Control Association, Dow Agrosciences, Maui County Farm Bureau, Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Syngenta Hawaii, Western Plant Health Association, and two individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture.

     Your Committees find that it is of the utmost importance to protect communities who could be potentially impacted by pesticides.  In Hawaii, there have been at least six episodes of pesticide-induced illness at schools since 2006.  Exposure to pesticides cause numerous short-term impacts, such as headaches, dizziness, difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, weakness, chest pain, fatigue, rashes, and eye ailments.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Retaining the requirement under existing law for the Department of Agriculture to issue a warning notice before prosecution proceedings related to the Hawaii pesticides law are initiated; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 692, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 692, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Agriculture,

____________________________ RUSSELL E. RUDERMAN, Chair

____________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair