STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3082

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2629

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2629, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PESTICIDES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Health, to develop and implement a pesticide disposal collection program no later than June 30, 2023, and operate the program for a duration to be determined by the Department of Agriculture.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Health; Department of Agriculture; Food+ Policy Internship 2022; Larry Jefts Farms, LLC; Hawaii Crop Improvement Association; Hawai'i Alliance for Progressive Action; Hawaii Pest Control Association; Hawaii Farm Bureau; and five individuals.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that the disposal of agricultural pesticides in sanitary landfills is prohibited. However, no safe or legal alternatives for their disposal are currently available. Your Committee recognizes that other states have successfully created low-cost pesticide disposal collection programs to ensure that unwanted agricultural pesticides are discarded in a safe manner. Your Committee believes that the State's implementation of a similar program would be a critical component of the State's environmental management efforts.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Explicitly including pest control operators licensed under Chapter 460J, Hawaii Revised Statutes, among the entities that may participate in the pesticide disposal collection program;

(2) Requiring the Advisory Committee on Pesticides to serve as a steering committee to guide and monitor the program;

(3) Changing the appropriation from $800,000 to an unspecified amount;

(4) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(5) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2629, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2629, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair