STAND. COM. REP. NO. 77-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: H.B. No. 1645

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Labor & Tourism, to which was referred H.B. No. 1645 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit lodging establishments from providing personal care products in small plastic bottles within sleeping room accommodations, any space within sleeping room accommodations, or bathrooms used by the public or guests.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Fair Wind, Surfrider Foundation, Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, and six individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health and Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

Your Committees find that the use of single-use toiletries in hotels and other lodging establishments contributes to plastic waste locally and globally. In response, states like California and New York have recently passed laws that prohibit hotels, bed and breakfast homes, and short-term vacation rentals from providing single-use personal care products. This measure would tackle the ever-growing problems associated with plastic waste and transition consumers and businesses toward more sustainable alternatives.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Delaying the start date for the prohibition for the use of complimentary single-use toiletries in hotels and other lodging establishments in the State to January 1, 2025, for lodging establishments with more than fifty sleeping room accommodations and January 1, 2027, for lodging establishments with fifty or fewer sleeping room accommodations; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Labor & Tourism that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1645, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1645, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Labor & Tourism,

____________________________ RICHARD H.K. ONISHI, Chair

____________________________ NICOLE E. LOWEN, Chair