STAND. COM. REP. NO. 404

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 683

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 Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 683 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to, beginning January 1, 2028, prohibit the manufacture, sale, offer for sale, distribution for sale, and distribution for use of any food packaging, food service ware, cosmetic, or personal care product that contains intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), with certain exceptions.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi Reef and Ocean Coalition, Coalition Earth, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Food+ Policy, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, and five individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Retail Merchants of Hawaii.

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

Your Committee finds that PFAS are toxic substances that do not naturally break down and pollute the environment for thousands of years once introduced. Your Committee also finds that exposure to PFAS has been linked to adverse health outcomes. Recognizing the harm of PFAS, the State prohibited the manufacture, sale, or distribution for sale or use of certain types of food packaging, beginning December 31, 2024, and fire extinguishing foam, beginning July 1, 2024, that contain PFAS through Act 152, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022. This measure expands the State's ban on products with PFAS to protect the environment and human health from their detrimental and toxic effects.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting a definition for "perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances" or "PFAS".

Your Committee notes that this measure does not contain any appropriation language. According to testimony from the Department of Health, the following funding and personnel resources are necessary to implement this measure: at least four positions, specialized laboratory equipment costing approximately $1,000,000 to test potentially violative products to verify compliance, and an additional $225,000 of annual recurring costs for equipment maintenance and testing supplies. Your Committee respectfully requests that subsequent Committees to which this measure is referred consider this request.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 683, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 683, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair