STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3034

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3316

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 3316 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PESTICIDES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require monthly rather than annual reporting of restricted use pesticides;

(2) Amend the contents of reports to include specific geospatial data and information, specific site information including commodity or crop information, and increased detail on the amount of restricted use pesticides used; and

(3) Require the Department of Agriculture to develop an online reporting tool for restricted use pesticides.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Green Party of Hawaiʻi, Kauai Climate Action Coalition, When We Shine Foundation, Kanalani Ohana Farm, Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action, Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United, Greener Hawaii, and forty-seven individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Hawaii Pest Control Association, Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau, National Pest Management Association, and one individual.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from Sugarland Farms, Inc. and CropLife America.

Your Committees find that restricted use pesticide exposure can cause significant harm to public health and the environment. Act 45, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, established certain requirements intended to address and curb restricted use pesticide abuse in Hawaii, and required all users of restricted use pesticides to annually report their use to the Department of Agriculture. However, your Committees find that the infrequency of these reports and the lack of detailed information provided therein have made it difficult for policymakers, environmental experts, and the residents who reside near large tracts of agricultural land where restricted use pesticides are commonly sprayed, to determine what was sprayed, where, when, and in what quantities. This measure updates the Hawaii Pesticides Law by improving the reporting requirements relating to restricted use pesticides to allow policymakers and public health experts to better monitor and make evidence-based decisions regarding its use.

However, your Committees recognize the concerns raised in testimony regarding the challenges that monthly reporting would place on small farm operations and other small agricultural businesses that use restricted use pesticides. Your Committees also recognize the concerns regarding the reporting of specific site information, including commodity or crop information as the disclosure can lead to an increase in trespassing, vandalism, and theft.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have required monthly reporting of pesticide use and replacing it with language that requires quarterly reporting of restricted pesticide use to the Department of Agriculture;

(2) Deleting language that would have required the contents of the reports to include, and the Department of Agriculture to disclose to the public, specific site information including commodity or crop information where the restricted use pesticide application occurred;

(3) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2040, to encourage further discussion;

(4) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3316, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3316, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair