STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2396

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2822

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Energy and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2822 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RECYCLING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Create a recycling program for all electrically powered consumer products; and

     (2)  Repeal the Electronic Waste and Television Recycling and Recovery Act.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter, and one individual.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, Hawaiian Telcom, Hawaiian Hope, and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the County of Hawaii Department of Environmental Management, Consumer Electronics Association, Tax Foundation of Hawaii, Sims Recycling Solutions, Covanta Energy Corporation, and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that proper waste handling and recycling of valuable materials is vital to protecting the health and welfare of the people of Hawaii and building a green economy.  While the goals of this measure are laudable, many testifiers questioned the feasibility of implementing this measure in its current form.  The effects of a government recycling program are complex and resonate across different sectors of society and various industries, as Hawaii has experienced with its fledgling Electronic Waste and Television Recycling Act.  Your Committee believes that the type of recycling program proposed in this measure warrants further study and consideration by stakeholders constituting a diverse coalition of interests.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by replacing language that:

     (1)  Creates a recycling program for all electrically powered consumer products;

     (2)  Repeals the Electronic Waste and Television Recycling and Recovery Act;

     (3)  Transfers monies from the electronic device recycling fund to the electric device recycling fund; and

     (4)  Authorizes the Department of Health to hire necessary personnel for its recycling program,

with language that creates a Hawaii electric device recycling task force composed of a diverse group of interested stakeholders and led by the Department of Health.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2822, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2822, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair