STAND. COM. REP. NO. 543

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 539

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 539 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TOXIC CHEMICALS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require state agencies that monitor environmental toxins and pollutants to establish environmental action levels (EALs) to ensure the preservation of a safe environment;

(2) Prohibit modifications to EALs unless certain procedural requirements are met; and

(3) Establish a process to allow any resident to petition for modifications to an established EAL.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, and four individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

Your Committees find that certain state agencies monitor the presence of environmentally toxic chemicals in the water, soil, and air, and require that remedial actions be taken if pollution levels exceed a level known as EAL. Your Committees acknowledge that, while the use of EALs can be beneficial for monitoring and regulating environmental pollution, there is currently no standardized or formal process for the establishment or amendment of an EAL. As a result, some state agencies that use EALs have been known to arbitrarily raise, or in some cases lower, an EAL without sufficient public notice or scientific justification. Your Committees find that procedures must be established to provide the public with advance notice and opportunity regarding the establishment of EALs, and to require state agencies that use EALs to provide justification for their decisions. Therefore, this measure addresses these issues by establishing procedural and substantive requirements for the establishment and revision of EALs by state agencies.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 539 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Government Operations,

________________________________ ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY, Chair

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair