STAND. COM. REP. NO. 639

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 132

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 132, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WATER POLLUTION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to preserve marine ecosystems by, beginning on January 1, 2023, banning 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.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, The Kohala Center, Surfrider Foundation, Malama Pupukea-Waimea, Hawaii Coral Reef Stakeholders Hui, Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, College of Charleston, Chemists Without Borders, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Institute of Geophysics - University of Tehran, Shandong Agricultural University, Tel Aviv University, Napili Bay and Beach Foundation, Safe Sunscreen Council, Sorbonne Université, Hanauma Bay Snorkel Adventures, Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition, Maui Ocean Center, Safe Sunscreen Coalition, and forty individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Food Industry Association, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, American Chemistry Council, Consumer Healthcare Products Association, Personal Care Products Council, Public Access to SunScreens Coalition, and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

 

     Your Committee finds that since the enactment of Act 14, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, which prohibits the sale and distribution of sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate in the State, octocrylene and avobenzone are common sunscreen chemicals that have also been shown to cause harm to marine life and human health.  The environmental contamination of octocrylene is a daily occurrence, as swimmers and beachgoers apply sunscreens containing these chemicals then swim in the ocean waters.  Evolving science around the world clearly demonstrates that these ubiquitous and pervasive reef toxins irreversibly interfere with the life cycles of Hawaii's marine ecosystems.  Furthermore, long-term exposure to avobenzone and octocrylene has been found to be lethal for some organisms living in freshwater environments.  Therefore, additional regulations are necessary to ensure these chemicals are kept out of our marine environment.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 132, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 132, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

 

 

 

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair