STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1749

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.C.R. No. 27

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 27 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH'S ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT DIVISION TO ENSURE THAT DESTINATIONS TO WHICH THE STATE'S RECYCLABLE WASTE IS TRANSPORTED FOR OUT-OF-STATE PROCESSING ABIDE BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS AS OUTLINED BY THE BASEL CONVENTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to urge the Department of Health's Environmental Management Division to ensure that destinations to which the State's recyclable waste is transported for out-of-state processing abide by the environmental standards as outlined by the Basel Convention.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Hawaii Food Industry Association, American Chemistry Council, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Basel Convention) is a multilateral environmental agreement that establishes standards for the transboundary movement of hazardous waste and solid waste, including notice to and written confirmation from the receiving country prior to export, and seeks to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of hazardous wastes. The end-of-life processing for recyclable plastics and waste in many of the countries in which Hawaii's recyclable waste ultimately arrives are handled in a manner that is harmful to human health and local environments. Thereby, your Committee finds that it is necessary to ensure that the destinations to which the State's recyclable waste is transported for out-of-state processing abides by the environmental standards outlined in the Basel Convention.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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 concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 27, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 27, S.D. 1.

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

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MIKE GABBARD, Chair