Question: What is the status for the approval of industrial hemp growing in Hawaii? I thought it was included in one of the bills recently being considered for approval by the state.
Answer: The 2019 Legislature did approve Senate Bill 1353, SD3, HD3, CD1, under which the state Department of Agriculture would establish a permanent industrial hemp program to license growers. However, Gov. David Ige said Tuesday that he intends to veto the measure.
Along with requiring the department to establish a permanent industrial hemp program that meets the approval of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the bill would create a special fund to support the program; remove from criminal regulation the cultivation, possession or sale of either licensed or unlicensed industrial hemp; and make other changes.
Ige plans to veto it because “there are concerns that this bill creates a licensing structure that cannot be enforced, will not meet USDA requirements for an approved industrial hemp program, and creates practical problems in the enforcement of existing medical cannabis,” according to a news release from the governor’s office.
Cannabis is a family of plants that includes marijuana and hemp. For decades, federal law did not distinguish between marijuana, which contains psychoactive THC, and hemp containing no more than 0.3% THC, which cannot make you high; both were illegal. That changed with the passage of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, which removed hemp from the list of controlled substances and paved the way for its legal cultivation as an agricultural crop, albeit under strict rules.
Proponents say hemp is a versatile crop with many uses — including in food, biofuel, textiles and construction material — that could help Hawaii reclaim fallow agricultural land and create jobs. They say Ige is missing the boat by expressing an intent to veto the bill, and should allow it to become law despite his reservations.
The governor has until July 9 to sign, veto or let the approved bill become law without his signature.
You can read the bill and its committee reports and testimony at 808ne.ws/SB1353.
Reading over the testimony, there seems to be misconceptions about what the 2018 Farm Bill accomplished; it did not legalize hemp cultivation without restriction.
For an explanation of what the law allows (and doesn’t), read the Brookings Institution’s explainer at 808ne.ws/brookings. Likewise, the American Farm Bureau Federation discusses the potential of industrial hemp at 808ne.ws/farmburo.
Q: How many people only use 2,000 gallons of water a month? C’mon. Most customers are going to pay way more than $18 a month.
A: The Honolulu Board of Water Supply says about 10 percent of its single-family residential customers use 2,000 gallons or less of water a month. Those customers can expect to pay about $18 a month for their water bill once a new rate structure kicks in July 1, according to a BWS estimate. That estimate includes a meter fee and a water-usage charge.
This new “Essential Needs” rate tier was added to reward water conservation and to help people with low and/or fixed incomes afford enough water to fulfill their basic needs.
Currently, single-family residential customers pay $4.42 per 1,000 gallons (k-gal) for the first 13,000 gallons a month.
As of July 1, the new rate structure lowers the cost to $3.79 per k-gal for the first 2,000 gallons, and raises it to $4.46 per k-gal for 2,001 to 6,000 gallons, to $5.06 per k-gal for 6,001 to 30,000 gallons, and to $8.46 per k-gal for over 30,000 gallons. Each tier’s rate will rise annually through 2022.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
