STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3237

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2121

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 2121, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WASTE MANAGEMENT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Beginning January 1, 2027, prohibit the sale, offer for sale, or distribution for sale of any disposable electronic smoking devices in the State; and

(2) Establish penalties.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaiʻi Youth Council, Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute, Hawaiʻi Public Health Association, The Friends of Kamalani & Lydgate Park, Hawaii COPD Coalition, Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network Speaks!, Hawaii Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, AlohaCare, and thirty-five individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Smokers Alliance and two individuals.

Your Committees find that disposable electronic smoking devices and e-cigarettes have become especially popular among teens because they are cheap, widely available, and easy to use, with current usage rates for middle school students at ten percent, and thirteen percent for high school students. Your Committees further find that there is no standardized way to recycle disposable electronic smoking devices and e-cigarettes, and that these devices contain dangerous plastics, toxic chemicals, and lithium-ion batteries that leach into the environment. This measure protects the State's keiki and prevents hazardous waste associated with disposable electronic smoking devices from entering the environment by banning the sale of these devices throughout the State.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of January 30, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) 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 Health and Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2121, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2121, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection,

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair