STAND. COM. REP. NO. 906

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 682

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 Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 682 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMAL FUR PRODUCTS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit the sale, offer for sale, display for sale, trade, or distribution of certain animal fur products in the State.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Defenders International, Animal Rights Hawai‘i, Collective Fashion Justice, Four Paws USA, Hawaiian Humane Society, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, The Humane Society of the United States, In Defense of Animals, Last Chance for Animals, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Project Coyote, and six individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Natural Fibers Alliance. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committees find that animals raised on fur farms typically spend their entire lives in cramped and filthy cages. Fur farmers typically use the cheapest killing methods available, including suffocation, electrocution, gas, and poison. Additionally, fur farms are sources and transmission vectors for dangerous zoonotic disease, including SARS coronaviruses, that threaten public health. Moreover, the fur production process is energy intensive and has a significant environmental impact, including air and water pollution. This measure prevents the unnecessary killing and cruel treatment of animals, harm to the environment, and the public health risks created by fur farming practices.

Your Committees note the concerns raised in testimony that this measure, as currently drafted, does not identify an agency responsible for implementing and enforcing its provisions. The Department of Land and Natural Resources currently enforces a similar statute prohibiting the sale of animal products, including fur, of certain exotic wildlife. Therefore, amendments to this measure are necessary to place the enforcement of this measure within the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Establishing the provisions of this measure as a new section in chapter 183D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, rather than as a new chapter;

(2) Inserting language authorizing the Department of Land and Natural Resources to adopt rules to implement and enforce the provisions of this measure;

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

(4) 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. 682, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 682, 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