STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1234

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 750

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred H.B. No. 750, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Amend the authorized uses of the Deposit Beverage Container Deposit Special Fund;

(2) Require the Department of Health to conduct a statewide needs assessment to determine what will be needed to reduce waste generation, increase reuse, improve recycling collection services, and expand local processing of materials through an extended producer responsibility program for packaging materials and paper products;

(3) Establish an advisory council to review the draft needs assessment and propose recommendations throughout the assessment process;

(4) Require the Department of Health to hold a public hearing on the draft needs assessment and complete and submit the needs assessment to the Legislature by December 31, 2028; and

(5) Appropriate funds out of the Deposit Beverage Container Deposit Special Fund.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Hawaiʻi Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission, one member of the Kauaʻi County Council, Climate Change and Health Working Group, Hawaiʻi Reef and Ocean Coalition, Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi; Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Public Health Association, Zero Waste Kauai, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, and seven individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Food Industry Association, Flexible Packaging Association, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, Hawaiʻi Restaurant Association, and Consumer Technology Association.

Your Committees find that solid waste may soon exceed landfill capacity in all of the State's counties and that the State would benefit from reduced waste production by expanding alternative strategies such as reuse, refill, composting, and recycling. Your Committees further find that extended producer responsibility programs encourage alternative waste management strategies as well as product design innovations that lead to source reduction of waste by shifting responsibility for a product's lifecycle from consumers or governments to producers of the product. Your Committees additionally find that extended producer responsibility strategies can be applied to packaging waste, a large part of the State's waste stream. Accordingly, this measure requires the Department of Health to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment to identify the necessary resources and strategies to enhance the State's sustainability efforts through an Extended Producer Responsibility Program for packaging materials and paper products.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have had restaurants, wholesalers, or distributors be represented by one Hawaii-based retailer on the advisory council;

(2) Inserting language adding the following members to the advisory council:

(A) One representative from a Hawaii-based restaurant;

(B) One representative from a Hawaii-based wholesaler; and

(C) One representative from a Hawaii-based distributor of food products;

(3) Inserting as Part II of the measure, the content of S.B. No. 1298, S.D. 2, Regular Session of 2025, which:

(A) Allows manufacturers to coordinate activities directly related to the recycling of covered electronic devices;

(B) Expands the scope of covered electronic devices to include electronic device peripherals and certain legacy devices; and

(C) Requires manufacturers to provide free collection service locations and collection events;

(4) Inserting a $3,000,000 appropriation amount out of the Deposit Beverage Container Deposit Special Fund;

(5) Inserting language to declare that the appropriations contained in this measure will cause the Deposit Beverage Container Deposit Special Fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal years 2025-2026, 2026-2027, 2027-2028, and 2028-2029 to be exceeded;

(6) Extending the date that this measure's appropriations will lapse to the credit of the Deposit Beverage Container Deposit Special Fund from June 30, 2027 to June 30, 2029; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 750, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 750, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair