STAND. COM. REP. NO. 748

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 504

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 504 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 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 perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, beginning on December 31, 2026.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Chamber of Sustainable Commerce, Hawai‘i Reef and Ocean Coalition, Climate Protectors Hawai‘i, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, and nine individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Personal Care Products Council and Retail Merchants of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that perfluoroalkyl and polyfluroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly termed "forever chemicals", are toxic and regularly used chemical compounds that do not breakdown in the environment and can accumulate in animal and human tissue when consumed, applied directly on the skin, or when eating foods packaged with material containing these substances. Hawaii is not isolated from the global ubiquitous occurrences of these extremely toxic and persistent compounds, and may be far more vulnerable to the consequences of PFAS entering groundwater sources, streams, soil, and aquatic life ecosystems. This measure expands on Act 152, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, by prohibiting additional types of food containers, food service ware, and cosmetic and personal care products, to continue to support the efforts to decrease the overall burden of PFAS contamination in Hawaii's environment.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 504, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 504, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

________________________________

JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair