STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1415-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: S.B. No. 2290

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 2290, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MICROBEADS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Beginning July 1, 2022, ban the manufacture of personal care products in the State, except non-prescription drugs, that contain plastic microbeads;

(2) Beginning July 1, 2023, ban the sale or offer for sale of personal care products in the State, except non-prescription drugs, that contain plastic microbeads;

(3) Beginning July 1, 2023, ban the manufacture of non-prescription drug products in the State that contain plastic microbeads;

(4) Beginning July 1, 2024, ban the sale or offer for sale of non-prescription drugs in the State that contain plastic microbeads; and

(5) Provide exemptions for rinse-off cosmetics.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Rotary Club Hanalei Bay, Surfrider Foundation, Hawai‘i Reef and Ocean Coalition, Center for Biological Diversity, Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawai‘i, and six individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Retail Merchants of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that plastic microbeads are not filtered out or removed by wastewater treatment facilities and therefore contribute to the increasing flow of plastic into the environment, posing threats to the world's oceans and aquatic life. Additionally, your Committee finds that plastic microbeads are contained in many personal care products and enter the oceans by the billions when they are rinsed off. This measure takes steps to arrest the harmful effects of microbeads on health and the environment by phasing in a ban on the manufacture and sale of leave-on personal care products and non-prescription drug products in the State that contain plastic microbeads.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2290, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2290, S.D. 1, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce,

____________________________

AARON LING JOHANSON, Chair