HB965 establishes a new microplastic filtration rebate program within the Department of Land and Natural Resources, in consultation with the Commission on Water Resource Management. The program would provide rebates for the purchase and installation of microplastic filtration systems for residential and commercial washing machines, including machines sold with built-in filtration systems. The bill is aimed at reducing microplastic pollution from laundry wastewater, which the legislature finds is a major source of fibers entering sewage systems, oceans, and marine ecosystems.
The bill sets out basic program administration requirements, including application forms, eligibility verification, outreach and education, and a 12-month deadline for filing rebate claims after purchase or installation. It applies only to qualifying systems purchased and installed after July 1, 2025. The measure also includes appropriations: one to deposit money into the water resource management fund for the rebate program and another for program administration, both to be expended by DLNR.
Impact
If enacted, HB965 would amend Chapter 174C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by adding a new statutory rebate program tied to water resource management and microplastic pollution reduction. It would create a new state-administered incentive for households and businesses to install washing machine microplastic filters, and it would direct state funds to support both rebates and administrative costs. The bill would primarily affect the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Commission on Water Resource Management, washing machine owners, and sellers or installers of filtration devices or equipped machines.
Sentiment
The bill text reflects a strongly supportive policy stance toward microplastic reduction, emphasizing environmental protection, wastewater quality, marine ecosystem health, and public health. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, there is no direct evidence of opposition or debate in the available record. The overall sentiment in the materials is therefore best characterized as pro-environment and pro-incentive, with the legislature presenting the rebate as a practical tool to encourage adoption of pollution-reducing technology.
Contention
The main policy questions implied by the bill are fiscal and administrative rather than ideological: the size of the rebates is left blank in the text, and the bill requires appropriations from both general revenues and the water resource management fund. Potential points of contention would likely include the cost to the state, whether rebates should cover residential and commercial machines equally, and how effectively the program would reduce microplastic pollution. No specific objections, amendments, or opposing viewpoints are included in the provided materials.
Water supply: quality and standards; testing and reporting of the amount of microplastics in public drinking water supplies; require. Amends sec. 5 of 1976 PA 399 (MCL 325.1005) & adds sec. 6a.
Trade: consumer goods and services; personal care products containing plastic microbeads; prohibit manufacture and acceptance for sale. Amends 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.101 - 324.90106) by adding subpt. 3 to pt. 147.