STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2635

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3137

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 S.B. No. 3137 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH'S AUTHORITY TO REGULATE FOOD, DRUGS, AND COSMETICS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Remove duplicative food-related statutory material and align all food-related provisions under chapter 328, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS); and

(2) Ensure adequate statutory authority for permits, fees, inspections, and enforcement.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health and Hawaii Food+ Policy.

Your Committees find that presently, the Department of Health is required to implement programs to ensure that all food, drugs, cosmetics, and other related consumer products are safe under both chapter 321, HRS, governing "Health", and chapter 328, HRS, governing "Food, Drugs and Cosmetics". The Department's Food Safety Branch, which is responsible for regulating retail food establishments, and the Department's Food and Drug Branch, which is responsible for regulating manufactured foods, have adopted separate administrative rules to implement chapters 321 and 328, HRS, respectively. Your Committees further find that different statutory authorities result in a lack of alignment of the regulations. This measure improves the safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics, and facilitates the development of food and related goods made and sold in the State by clarifying the Department of Health's legal authority pertaining to the regulation of food, drugs, and cosmetics, as it relates to food safety and public health.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Making the repeal of the Sanitation and Environmental Health Special Fund take effect on June 30, 2027, to allow one year for the Department of Health and the Department of Budget and Finance to establish and coordinate the transfer of funds; 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 S.B. No. 3137, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3137, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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