STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1051

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 525

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Health and Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 525, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATE PARKS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Prohibit smoking and the use of tobacco products and electronic smoking devices within the state park system; and

 

     (2)  Require posting of signage prohibiting smoking and the use of tobacco products.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; University of Hawaii; Surfrider Foundation, Hawaii Chapters; Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii; Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawaii; Conservation Council for Hawaii; Outrigger Hotels & Resorts; and sixty-six individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from twenty-three individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

 

     Your Committees find that creating smoke-free or tobacco-free parks is an important step toward protecting the public from involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke and the toxic effects of smoking and tobacco litter.  A ban on smoking and the use of tobacco products at all state parks will result in cleaner parks and a healthier environment for residents, visitors, and marine life.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting language that would have allowed the Department of Land and Natural Resources to designate areas within state parks where smoking or use of tobacco are not prohibited; and

 

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 525, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 525, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Water and Land,

 

________________________________

LAURA H. THIELEN, Chair

 

________________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair