STAND. COM. REP. NO. 435

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 498

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 498 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREWORKS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish the Shipping Container Inspection Program and Shipping Container Inspection Program Special Fund;

(2) Increase the maximum fine for each violation of the fireworks law; and

(3) Require the Department of Public Safety to submit reports to the Legislature on implementation of the Shipping Container Inspection Program.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Law Enforcement, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaiian Humane Society, Poi Dogs & Popoki, and eleven individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance; Department of the Attorney General; Department of Transportation; Hawaii Harbors; Young Brothers, LLC; and Matson Navigation Company, Inc.

Your Committees find that to address the problem of illegal fireworks, Act 170, Session Laws of Hawaii 2010, established the Illegal Fireworks Task Force to develop strategies and make recommendations to the Legislature to address the illegal importation and use of fireworks in the State. One recommendation called for increasing random inspections for illegal fireworks by expanding inspection authority and focusing cargo inspections to be more manageable. Pursuant to Act 184, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019, the Legislative Reference Bureau updated its 2011 "Report of the Illegal Fireworks Task Force to the Legislature for the Regular Session of 2011", concurring that the "issues and challenges presented by the Task Force in its 2011 report remain relevant today". To address the ongoing prevalence of illegal fireworks in Hawaii's communities, establishing a Shipping Container Inspection Program may prevent the widespread proliferation of illegal fireworks in the State.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have increased the fees for each shipping container arriving in the State beginning July 1, 2024;

(2) Requiring offsite shipping containers to be conducted at the final container drop-off location or a non-active harbor area within twenty-four hours of initial arrival;

(3) Requiring a law enforcement agency to investigate in the event that contraband is discovered during a shipping container inspection;

(4) Establishing an unspecified fine amount for any person who tampers with secure container seals;

(5) Inserting an appropriation of $1,000,000 out of the general fund to establish and administer the Shipping Container Inspection Program, including the purchase, care, and handling of at least two explosive-sniffing dogs;

(6) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(7) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(8) 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 Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 498, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 498, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair