STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3434

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1894

H.D. 3

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1894, H.D. 3, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN REMAINS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to accommodate the use of both traditional Native Hawaiian burial practices and environmentally-friendly burial practices by including water cremation in the treatment and disposal of human remains.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Aloha Mortuary; Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement; Fisher & Associates, LLC; and thirteen individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health; City and County of Honolulu Department of Environmental Services; and Hawaii Funeral & Cemetery Association, Inc.

Your Committees find that there has been an increased interest in traditional Native Hawaiian burial practices. Water cremation, also called alkaline hydrolysis, is not only a culturally appropriate method of burial but is also a more eco‑friendly process than traditional flame cremation. Compared to flame cremation, water cremation uses one-eighth of the energy and has one-fourth the carbon footprint. This measure accommodates the use of traditional Native Hawaiian burial practices and the burial practice of water cremation.

Therefore, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Making it effective upon its approval; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1894, H.D. 3, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1894, H.D. 3, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Hawaiian Affairs,

________________________________ MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair