STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1050

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

 

RE:   H.B. No. 639

      H.D. 2

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 639, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SOLID WASTE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to encourage recycling by fine tuning the deposit beverage container program.  Specifically, this bill:

 

     (1)  Allows the Director of Health (Director) to temporarily suspend an automatic increase in the deposit beverage container fee after consulting with the Auditor and determining that the funds in the Deposit Beverage Container Deposit Special Fund (Fund) meet statutory requirements;

 

     (2)  Requires deposit beverage distributors to report the number of containers sold and pay fees thereon;

 

     (3)  Allows consumers to request that the refund value be calculated by container count only when redeeming up to 50 containers of each material type per visit to a redemption center;

 

     (4)  Requires redemption centers to refuse to pay the refund value on containers that appear to have been previously processed and baled; and

 

     (5)  Requires the Department of Health (DOH) to pay the handling fee only on containers physically received by the redemption center.

 

     Reynolds Recycling supported this bill.  The Sierra Club – Hawaii Chapter supported this measure with amendments.  DOH opposed this bill.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 639, H.D. 2, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair