SR 174 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO ENCOURAGE REDUCTIONS IN THE USE OF DISPOSABLE SURGICAL EQUIPMENT AND ADOPTION OF SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES IN THE PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES FOLLOWING EXAMPLES SET BY CALIFORNIA AND JAPAN.

This Senate Resolution (SR 174) requests Hawaii's Department of Health to encourage hospitals and healthcare facilities to reduce reliance on disposable surgical equipment and adopt sustainable practices, following models from California and Japan. It asks the Department to develop guidelines, promote partnerships with sterilization companies, and submit a 2026 report analyzing the feasibility, cost savings, and environmental benefits of such changes. The resolution does not mandate specific actions but seeks to spur voluntary adoption of reuse strategies to lower medical waste and costs.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 7, 2025 Last action Apr 3, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SR174 → SR174_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was reformatted from a Senate Resolution (SR) to a Senate Draft 1 (SD1) version, with metadata and formatting changes but no substantive policy modifications. The core request to the Department of Health remains unchanged: reduce disposable surgical equipment use and adopt sustainable practices following California and Japan examples.

TECHNICAL

Document metadata and formatting were updated from SR174 to SR174_SD1, including header information, timestamps, and page numbers.

The resolution text was reformatted with different line breaks and spacing, but all substantive clauses remain identical.

The request language was slightly adjusted from 'reduce the use' to 'encourage reductions in the use' of disposable surgical equipment, though the practical effect is unchanged.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1542) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Mar 28, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, Aquino, Hashimoto, Keohokalole, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 20, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-28-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Committee

Referred to HHS.

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Introduced

Offered.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors