STAND. COM. REP. NO.  247

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2021

 

RE:   H.B. No. 102

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Water & Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 102 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SUNSCREENS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to, beginning January 1, 2023, ban the sale, offer of sale, or distribution in the State of any sunscreen that contains avobenzone or octocrylene, or both, without a prescription issued by a licensed healthcare provider to preserve marine ecosystems.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Young Progressives Demanding Action Hawaii Island; Hawaii Fishing & Boating Association; Surfrider Foundation, Maui Chapter; Surfrider Foundation, Oahu Chapter; The Kohala Center; Lani & Kai; Mama Kuleana Reef Safe Sunscreen Company; Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition; Hawaii Coral Reef Stakeholders; Haereticus Environmental Laboratory; Napili Bay and Beach Foundation, Inc.; Chemists Without Borders; One Love Body Soul LLC; Suntegrity; Zero Waste Hale; Stream2Sea; Inland Ocean Coalition; Safe Sunscreen Council; and numerous individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Food Industry Association, Public Access to SunScreens Coalition, Personal Care Products Council, American Chemistry Council, Hawaii Skin Cancer Coalition, Consumer Healthcare Products Association, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, and five individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health, American Academy of Dermatology Association, and Hawaii Dermatological Society.

 

     Your Committees find that despite the ban on the sale and distribution of sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate in the State beginning in 2021, many visitors to Hawaii may still be unaware of the harmful impacts of other chemicals that have significant harmful impacts on Hawaii's marine environment.  This measure ensures that other harmful chemicals are included in the sunscreen ban to preserve the State's marine ecosystems, including coral reefs that protect Hawaii's shoreline.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Water & Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 102, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 102, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Water & Land,

 

 

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair

 

____________________________

NICOLE E. LOWEN, Chair