STAND. COM. REP. NO. 975

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1439

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 1439, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NUISANCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that the Department of Health (DOH) has the legal authority and obligation to prevent and address nuisances that affect environmental health or public health, or both.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi Reef and Ocean Coalition and Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that the health of a community is closely tied to environmental conditions. Nuisances that threaten environmental health, such as vector-borne diseases, flooding, and wildfires, also have the potential to adversely affect human health. Therefore, for the DOH to fully address the well-being of the State's population, it must also address nuisances to environmental health. This measure affirms the DOH's responsibility under existing law to protect the overall wellness of the State's communities by clarifying that the DOH's oversight includes nuisances that threaten environmental health.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1439, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair