THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
348 |
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
H.D. 1 |
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C.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO BOTTLED WATER.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Americans send more than thirty-eight billion water bottles to landfills every year, while only thirty per cent of water bottles are placed in a recycling bin. Aluminum cans, however, are recycled twice as often as plastic, glass, and cartons. Unlike single-use plastic bottles, one hundred per cent of the aluminum can is recyclable, meaning the material from one aluminum can or bottle can be used to make another aluminum can without any new material. This closed loop cycle can take as little as sixty days.
The legislature further finds that many carbonated soft drink companies in other states also produce canned noncarbonated water with the same equipment used to make their other products. However, existing state law expressly prohibits carbonated soft drink, juice, and beer operations from using the same equipment to can noncarbonated bottled water. This restriction unfairly and unnecessarily limits local beverage filling companies that manufacture other products from providing noncarbonated water in aluminum cans to consumers as an alternative to single-use plastic water bottles.
The legislature notes that the soft drink companies in other states use antimicrobial agents such as ozone during the canned water production process. The ozonated water passing throughout the entire filling operation at these companies effectively eliminates microbiological contamination of the finished product.
The purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Update a reference to federal bottled water standards; and
(2) Repeal the requirement that noncarbonated bottled water be bottled in or through lines or equipment through which only water is passed.
SECTION 2. Section 328D-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) All bottled water shall be from an approved
source and shall not contain any constituent in quantities that may be
injurious to health, as established by rules adopted by the department or other
government agency or agencies having jurisdiction. All bottled water shall meet standards
prescribed by the FDA in title 21 C.F.R. section [103.35, except that
the total dissolved solids limitation of section 103.35(d) shall not apply to
mineral water.] 165.110."
SECTION 3. Section 328D-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b) Bottled water production, including transporting,
processing, packaging, and storage, shall be conducted under [such]
conditions and controls [as are] necessary to minimize the potential for
microbiological contamination of the finished product. These conditions and controls shall include
the following:
(1) Bottled water
shall be subject to effective germicidal treatment by ozonation or carbonation
at a minimum of three volumes of carbon dioxide or other equivalent
disinfection approved by the department or government agency or agencies having
jurisdiction; and
(2) Bottled water
shall not be transported or stored in bulk tanks or processed or bottled
through equipment or lines used for any nonfood product[; and
(3) For optimum
consumer protection, in order to minimize the potential for microbiological
contamination of the finished product, noncarbonated bottled water shall not be
transported, stored, processed, or bottled in or through lines or equipment through
which any food product other than water is passed]."
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.
Report Title:
Noncarbonated Bottled Water; Aluminum Cans; Manufacturing
Description:
Updates the federal law reference to standards established by the United States Food and Drug Administration regarding product quality standards for bottled water. Repeals the requirement that noncarbonated bottled water be transported, stored, processed, or bottled through lines or equipment through which only water is passed. (CD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.