STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2028

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2285

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2285 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PLASTIC STRAWS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit the distribution, sale, and provision of plastic straws by individuals and businesses in the State; and

(2) Impose a fine for violations and a requirement for violators to pick up litter or perform other types of community service.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Association for Behavior Analysis, Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, Surfrider Foundation, Surfrider Foundation O‘ahu Chapter, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, Young Progressives Demanding Action, Vote Hawaii, Graduate Student Organization, Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, Autism Behavior Consulting Group, Magic's Beach Grill, Kokua Hawaii Foundation, 808 Cleanups, Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawai‘i, O‘ahu County Legislative Priorities Committee of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, One Ocean Global Plastics Project, and forty-three individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawai‘i Restaurant Association; American Chemistry Council; Hawaii Food Industry Association; Tiki's Grill & Bar, LLC; Retail Merchants of Hawaii; and four individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health and one individual.

Your Committee finds that plastic straws are seemingly everywhere, often ending up as marine trash, littering beaches, or being consumed by sea life. Other jurisdictions have taken steps to prohibit the sale and distribution of plastic straws. Hawaii, as a leader in advancing protection of marine life and the marine environment, should ban these unnecessary, single-use objects that are contributing to the world's plastic pollution problem. Your Committee finds that this measure is another way to create state policy to lessen the negative impacts of plastics getting into the ocean.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to January 1, 2019, to allow time for those affected by this measure to prepare for implementation; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2285, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2285, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair