Hawaii-2024-HB1886-Amended

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the primary mission of the state fire council is to develop and support a comprehensive fire service emergency management network for the protection of life, property, and the environment for the State. Among its many responsibilities, the state fire council is statutorily required to adopt the state fire code, administer the reduced ignition propensity cigarettes law, and provide assistance with the application and administration of federal grants for fire‑related projects. The state fire council may also, among other things, coordinate statewide training, data collection, and contingency planning needs for firefighters; advise the governor and legislature on matters related to fire prevention, fire protection, and life safety; and establish statewide qualifications and procedures for testing, certifying, and credentialing individuals who perform maintenance and testing of portable fire extinguishers, fire protection systems, and fire alarm systems.

The legislature further finds that despite the scope of its responsibilities, the state fire council has been historically underfunded. From its inception until 2001, the state fire council had no funding for staff to fulfill its responsibilities. Instead, the state fire council relied upon county personnel to perform the council's duties along with county personnel's normal functions within their respective fire departments. In 2001, the governor directed the department of labor and industrial relations to allocate $35,000 to fund the first part-time employee. Ten years later, the legislature appropriated an additional $71,000 to hire two additional personnel.

In 2011, the legislature also established the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program special fund for the deposit of certification fees collected pursuant to the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program. Moneys in the special fund are administered and expended by the state fire council to defray the actual cost of activities and requirements of the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program, including employing one full-time administrator and one full-time assistant. As of June 30, 2022, the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program special fund has a balance of $885,000.

The state fire council now estimates that the annual $138,000 operational expenses for the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program will exceed the estimated $108,000 in certification fees collected. To ensure that the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program remains solvent, state law authorizes the state fire council to annually adjust the certification fee to ensure that it defrays the actual costs of the administration and staffing requirements and processing, testing, enforcement, inspection, and oversight activities required. Even with the annual overage of $30,000, the legislature finds that there is sufficient moneys in the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program special fund to defray the costs of fire-related programs and the hiring of administrative personnel for several years.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to authorize moneys in the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program special fund to be administered and expended by the state fire council to defray the cost of statewide fire prevention, education, life safety, and preparedness programs, especially as those programs relate to youth, seniors, and persons with disabilities, including the hiring of administrative personnel.

SECTION 2. Section 132-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) The state fire council may also:

(1) Appoint advisory committees comprising representatives from each county fire department, a representative of the Hawaii state aircraft rescue fire fighting unit, and a representative of the division of forestry and wildlife of the department of land and natural resources to assist in drafting the state fire code and coordinating statewide training, data collection, and contingency planning needs for firefighters;

(2) Advise and assist the county and state fire departments where appropriate; [~~may~~] prescribe standard procedures and forms relating to inspections, investigations, and reporting of fires; [~~may~~] approve plans for cooperation among the county and state fire departments; [~~and may~~] advise the governor and the legislature with respect to fire prevention and protection, life safety, and any other functions or activities for which the various county and state fire departments are generally responsible; and implement statewide fire prevention, education, life safety, and preparedness programs, especially as those programs relate to youth, seniors, and persons with disabilities; and

(3) Establish, in conformance with the adopted state fire code and nationally recognized standards, statewide qualifications and procedures, to be administered by the county fire departments, for testing, certifying, and credentialing individuals who perform maintenance and testing of portable fire extinguishers, water-based fire protection systems, other fire protection systems, private fire hydrants, and fire alarm systems; provided that the county fire departments may establish and charge reasonable certification fees."

SECTION 3. Section 132C-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§132C-9[]] Reduced ignition propensity cigarette program special fund. (a) There [is] shall be established in the state treasury a reduced ignition propensity cigarette program special fund, into which shall be deposited all moneys collected by the state fire council from the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program pursuant to section 132C-4. All interest earned or accrued on moneys deposited in the fund shall become part of the fund.

(b) Moneys in the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program special fund shall be administered and expended by the state fire council to defray the actual cost of activities and requirements of section 132C-4, including employing one full‑time administrator and one full-time assistant whose duties include:

(1) Adopting administrative rules for program implementation, establishing compliance inspections, and approving forms and enforcement procedures and guidelines;

(2) Receiving certifications for approximately [~~six~~] eight hundred different brands and styles of cigarettes from the manufacturers;

(3) Compiling a list of the cigarette brands and styles for which manufacturers have submitted certifications, verifying tax stamp compliance with the department of the attorney general, and posting the list of certified brands and styles on a state website for informational purposes only;

(4) Reviewing and approving, as needed, any alternative test methods or fire standard compliance markings submitted by the manufacturer; and

(5) If needed, submitting certified cigarettes to an accredited laboratory for testing to verify that performance standards have been met.

(c) Moneys in the reduced ignition propensity cigarette program special fund may also be administered and expended by the state fire council:

(1) To defray the cost of statewide fire prevention, education, life safety, and preparedness programs implemented pursuant to section 132-16(c)(2); and

(2) For the hiring of administrative personnel, exempt from chapters 76-89."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1886
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 2