STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2979

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2290

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 Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2290 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MICROBEADS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent 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 of non-prescription drugs in the State that contain plastic microbeads; and

(5) Exempt from this measure any rinse-off cosmetic that is also a non-prescription drug regulated under the federal Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Animal Rights Hawai‘i, and three individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Food Industry Association, and Personal Care Products Council. Your Committees received comments on this measure from Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawai‘i and Hawai‘i Reef and Ocean Coalition.

Your Committees find that the accumulation and impacts of microplastic particles in the ocean is an important environmental issue and every effort should be made to decrease microplastic pollution in the State's waters and protect the marine environment. Microbeads are unnecessary plastic additives that can make their way into waterways and oceans, which are then ingested by marine life, and can eventually end up in human food sources. Your Committees note the federal Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 and further recognize this measure addresses only those products that are not preempted under federal law to support all possible efforts to minimize microplastic pollution.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting the provisions of this measure into chapter 321, rather than chapter 328, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes;

(2) Amending the definition of "personal care product" to include hygiene, skin care, or sun protection products;

(3) Amending the definition of "plastic microbead" to mean a plastic particle that is less than five millimeters in size;

(4) Amending section 1 to specify the environmental rationale for the prohibition on plastic microbeads; and

(5) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2290, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2290, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary,

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair

________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair