Bill Text: HI HB719 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Environmental Protection.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-01-24 - Referred to EEP, CPC, FIN, referral sheet 5 [HB719 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2019-HB719-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
719 |
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THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to environmental protection.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that polystyrene foam represents one of the most common forms of litter pollution in Hawaii. The consumption of polystyrene foam containers in Hawaii, none of which are recycled, is the highest per capita in the United States. Polystyrene foam is ultra-light, which allows it to easily escape collection systems and accumulate on land and in waterways where it quickly aggregates and fragments to form a highly visible and toxic litter stream. Polystyrene foam fragments leach styrene, a known carcinogen, and other toxins that then poison the local food chain. This poisoned food chain impacts all species including birds, whales, turtles, seals, and the fish that form the foundation of the local fishing industry. Polystyrene foam pollution also defaces Hawaii's iconic landscapes, which serve as the basis for the tourism industry.
The legislature further finds that the cost to the State and counties to clean polystyrene foam and other plastics from storm drains, waterways, marine ecosystems, and other aggregation points is well documented and increasingly burdensome. A study by the Natural Resources Defense Council showed that California taxpayers are shouldering a cost of $428,000,000 per year to prevent litter, including plastics like polystyrene foam, from becoming harmful pollution. For a city in California with a population size comparable to that of Hawaii's, such as San Diego, the cost is over $14,000,000 per year in taxpayer money. In 2016, following the continued flooding due to litter in Hawaii's storm drains, the department of transportation released a trash plan indicating that a prohibition on the sale of polystyrene foam service ware and packaging would result in a ten per cent reduction of the total cleanup costs of litter in the State for the department of transportation's highway division alone. This translates into millions of dollars in savings to the Hawaii taxpayer.
The legislature further finds that certain counties across the State have begun to prohibit polystyrene, reducing costs to taxpayers in those counties. However, residents in those counties still pay state taxes to executive branch departments and agencies tasked with cleaning up polystyrene pollution in other counties which have not meaningfully prohibited its proliferation.
The purpose of this Act is to protect:
(1) Residents of counties which have prohibited the sale of polystyrene from paying additional taxes to clean up polystyrene litter in other counties in which it has not been prohibited;
(2) Hawaii taxpayers from paying additional cleanup costs; and
(3) Hawaii's environment,
by authorizing state executive branch departments and agencies to collect information regarding the amount of moneys expended by each department or agency per county for the disposal of polystyrene and then collect reimbursement from counties for such expenditures.
SECTION 2. Chapter 27, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"Part . Polystyrene cleanup
§27-A Definitions. As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
"County" means the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, and the city and county of Honolulu.
"Department or agency" means a state executive branch department or agency, or the judiciary.
"Polystyrene" means a thermoplastic petrochemical material utilizing a styrene monomer, including all polystyrene, meaning any styrene or vinyl chloride polymer that is blown into a foam-like material. Polystyrene includes materials created from techniques including the fusion of polymer spheres (expandable bead polystyrene), injection molding, foam molding, and extrusion-blow molding (extruded foam polystyrene).
"Polystyrene product" means a product that is made using polystyrene material.
§27-B Polystyrene clean up. (a) The department of accounting and general services shall maintain a database detailing the amount of moneys expended, as reported under subsection (b), by state departments and agencies for the collection or disposal of polystyrene products in each county which has not meaningfully prohibited the use and disposal of polystyrene products.
(b) Beginning on January 1, 2021, each department or agency that incurs costs for collecting or disposing of polystyrene products in each county which has not meaningfully prohibited the use and disposal of polystyrene products may submit an application, using a form to be prepared by the department of accounting and general services, to the department of accounting and general services to collect reimbursement from the applicable counties for expenditures made within the county to collect and dispose of polystyrene products. The reimbursement amount shall be determined using the data collected pursuant to subsection (a). The department shall notify each county of the total amount owed to reimburse all departments and agencies for the collection and disposal of polystyrene products by the departments and agencies. The respective sums shall be deducted from each counties' respective annual transient accommodations tax revenues.
(c) The department of accounting and general services shall submit a report of the data and reimbursements collected pursuant to this section to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session."
SECTION 3. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Polystyrene Products; Collection and Disposal; Counties
Description:
Requires the Department of Accounting and General Services to track the cost to state departments and agencies of collecting and disposing of polystyrene products in each county. Beginning in 2021, requires each county to reimburse the general fund for costs to the State of collecting and disposing of polystyrene products in the county.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
