STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1245

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 973

H.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred H.B. No. 973, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEMP,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to repeal the requirement for additional rules by the Department of Agriculture to address nuisance issues, including smell, noise, and excessive lighting arising out of the activities of hemp growers.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, Hawai‘i Farmers Union United, Hawai‘i Hemp Farmers Association, Hawai‘i Sustainable Farms, and three individuals.

Your Committee finds that pre-existing regulations and authority under the Department of Health and county land use ordinances address, and are the appropriate method of addressing, the areas of nuisance relating to hemp. Where pre-existing frameworks of regulatory oversight for nuisance and other issues are present, a deferral to and reliance on those regulatory frameworks is the proper and preferred means to avoid any ambiguities that may arise. This measure will repeal the nuisance rules requirement that adds additional and duplicative regulations for Hawaii's hemp farmers.

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 H.B. No. 973, H.D. 2, and recommends that it pass Second Reading 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