REPORT TITLE:
Watershed Partnership


DESCRIPTION:
Increases from 25% to 75% the dedicated amount of conveyance tax
revenues to the natural area partnership, of which 66% shall be
disbursed to the natural area partnership and forest stewardship
programs, 33% to a new watershed partnership program, and 1% to
cover the administration of these programs.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           232
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO NATURAL RESOURCES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Findings and purpose.  Hawaii's mountain
 
 2 watersheds are the primary source of water for the islands'
 
 3 urban, industrial, commercial, and agricultural areas.  Forested
 
 4 watersheds reduce rains' erosive effects, prevent soil erosion,
 
 5 increase infiltration into the soil, strip moisture from the
 
 6 clouds, and help maintain a consistent and dependable source of
 
 7 surface water and groundwater.
 
 8      Public and private interests came together in the late
 
 9 1880's to make the needed investments to assure a healthy and
 
10 effectively managed forest watershed.  In 1903, a government
 
11 forest management program was created with a mandate to protect
 
12 sources of water supply and to have care and control of the
 
13 forest reserves.  It is a tribute to that foresight and
 
14 management that Hawaii has forests.  
 
15      Although we are reaping the benefits of past investments
 
16 made in almost one hundred years of successful forest watershed
 
17 management in Hawaii, we no longer have a management program to
 
18 assure we will have an effective forest watershed for future
 
19 generations.  With the advent of federal and state species
 

 
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 1 protection legislation as well as increased recreational demands,
 
 2 the State's budget for forestry and watershed resource management
 
 3 is now spread over a much larger set of issues.  As a result,
 
 4 public investment in watershed management has diminished at the
 
 5 same time our communities' demand for water resources and
 
 6 attendant watershed values has increased dramatically.
 
 7      Private landowners own half of the remaining forested lands
 
 8 in Hawaii and there are few incentives for private landowners to
 
 9 invest in managing their forested watershed.  Recognizing the
 
10 need to encourage private land management of these important
 
11 areas, the legislature established the natural area partnership
 
12 and forest stewardship programs which provide matching funds to
 
13 landowners who dedicate their lands to conservation.  In order to
 
14 match the landowners' long-term commitment of land, personnel,
 
15 and funding, the legislature dedicated one quarter of conveyance
 
16 tax revenues, or approximately $1,200,000 annually, to these two
 
17 partnership programs.  The response to the programs has been
 
18 overwhelming and all funds are currently dedicated to ongoing
 
19 stewardship projects.  There is no funding available to protect
 
20 additional private lands, even though there are additional
 
21 private landowners willing to manage their lands to protect
 
22 Hawaii's water, native species, and other forest resources.  
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           232
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      In addition, the landowners of some of Hawaii's most
 
 2 important watersheds are banding together to cooperatively manage
 
 3 our islands' most precious resource.  For example, Maui county
 
 4 and the six public and private landowners of windward east Maui's
 
 5 forested lands formed the east Maui watershed partnership in 1991
 
 6 to protect the one hundred thousand acre source of more than
 
 7 sixty billion gallons of water annually.  East Maui watershed
 
 8 partnership has become a model of cooperative management which is
 
 9 now being applied to west Maui and considered for other key
 
10 watersheds throughout the State.  Many of the threats to these
 
11 areas, such as non-native plants and animals, cross ownership
 
12 boundaries.  Watershed partnerships, like those found on east and
 
13 west Maui, are the most efficient and cost effective way to
 
14 protect our water resources and native species from these
 
15 threats.  
 
16      The purpose of this Act is to encourage more private
 
17 landowners to dedicate their lands to conservation, and
 
18 facilitate greater cooperation in watershed management by
 
19 dedicating the remaining fifty per cent of conveyance tax
 
20 revenues to the natural area partnership and forest stewardship
 
21 programs and a new watershed partnership program.  
 
22      SECTION 2.  Chapter 195, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 

 
 
 
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 1 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
 2 read as follows:
 
 3      "§195-     Watershed partnership program.  (a)  There is
 
 4 established in the department a watershed partnership program to
 
 5 provide state funds and technical assistance for the management
 
 6 of public and private lands that are identified by the department
 
 7 as important watershed management areas.  Payments shall be made
 
 8 from the natural area reserve fund with funds specifically
 
 9 appropriate for this purpose.
 
10      (b)  In order to qualify under this program, landowners must
 
11 be signatories to a watershed partnership agreement.
 
12      (c)  Grants provided by this program shall be used and
 
13 expended for the following purposes:
 
14      (1)  To implement watershed maintenance and enhancement
 
15           projects within important watershed management areas,
 
16           such as but not limited to erosion prevention and
 
17           control, reforestation, noxious weed control, exclusion
 
18           of stock, and control of feral animals;
 
19      (2)  To fund water and watershed resource monitoring
 
20           efforts, including but not limited to stream and
 
21           rainfall gauging, well monitoring, noxious weeds, and
 
22           water quality studies; and
 

 
 
 
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 1      (3)  To compensate the counties for revenue reductions due
 
 2           to property tax incentive programs that could be
 
 3           attached to properties within important watershed
 
 4           management areas.
 
 5      (d)  When considering grant applications, the department
 
 6 shall give priority to those proposals which:
 
 7      (1)  Protect or restore habitat for candidate, threatened,
 
 8           or endangered species;
 
 9      (2)  Provide matching funds from other public or private
 
10           sources;
 
11      (3)  Prevent soil erosion and loss of native forest cover;
 
12      (4)  Are submitted on behalf of all members of a particular
 
13           watershed partnership; and
 
14      (5)  Propose work on a ecosystem level, which crosses more
 
15           than one ownership boundary.
 
16      (e)  Partnership proposals may address current or potential
 
17 threats to the watershed which occur completely outside the
 
18 partnership boundaries.
 
19      (f)  All grant applications shall be subject to final
 
20 approval by the board, upon recommendation by the department."
 
21      SECTION 3.  Section 195-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
22 amended by adding two new definitions to be appropriately
 

 
 
 
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 1 inserted and to read as follows:
 
 2      ""Important watershed management area" means a non-
 
 3 regulatory designation by the department used to identify a
 
 4 watershed area, on public or private land, which contributes to
 
 5 domestic water supplies and where public or private management
 
 6 activities are needed to maintain and enhance the vegetative
 
 7 cover and soil, retard rapid runoff of storm flows, prevent soil
 
 8 erosion, and improve infiltration of water through the soil to
 
 9 optimize recharge of the surface and groundwater supplies.
 
10      "Watershed partnership agreement" means a document signed by
 
11 all landowners and participants in a state watershed partnership
 
12 program, outlining broad areas of agreement and
 
13 responsibilities."
 
14      SECTION 4.  Section 247-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as
 
15 amended by section 1 of Act 170, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, is
 
16 amended to read as follows:
 
17      "§247-7 Disposition of taxes.  [All taxes collected under
 
18 this chapter shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit
 
19 of the general fund of the State, to be used and expended for the
 
20 purposes for which the general fund was created and exists by
 
21 law; provided that of] Of the taxes collected each fiscal
 
22 year[,]:
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           232
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (1)  Twelve and one-half per cent shall be paid into the
 
 2           state treasury to the credit of the general fund of the
 
 3           State, to be used and expended for the purposes from
 
 4           which the general fund was created and exists by law;
 
 5           [twelve]
 
 6      (2)  Twelve and one-half per cent shall be paid into the
 
 7           rental housing trust fund established by section 201G-
 
 8           432; and [twenty-five]
 
 9      (3)  Seventy-five per cent shall be paid into the natural
 
10           area reserve fund established by section 195-9;
 
11           provided that of the funds paid into the natural area
 
12           reserve fund:
 
13           (A)  Sixty-six per cent shall be annually disbursed to
 
14                the natural area partnership and forest
 
15                stewardship programs by the department of land and
 
16                natural resources after joint consultation with
 
17                the forest stewardship committee and the natural
 
18                area reserves system commission[.];
 
19           (B)  Thirty-three per cent shall be annually disbursed
 
20                to the watershed partnership program; and
 
21           (C)  One per cent shall be retained by the department
 
22                of land and natural resources to cover the costs
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           232
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1                of administering the natural area partnership,
 
 2                forest stewardship, and watershed partnership
 
 3                programs."
 
 4      SECTION 5.  Section 247-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as
 
 5 amended by section 2 of Act 170, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, is
 
 6 amended to read as follows:
 
 7      "§247-7 Disposition of taxes.  [All taxes collected under
 
 8 this chapter shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit
 
 9 of the general fund of the State, to be used and expended for the
 
10 purposes for which the general fund was created and exists by
 
11 law; provided that of] Of the taxes collected each fiscal
 
12 year[,]:
 
13      (1)  Twenty-five [twenty-five] per cent shall be paid into
 
14           the rental housing trust fund established by section
 
15           201G-432 and [twenty-five]; and
 
16      (2)  Seventy-five per cent shall be paid into the natural
 
17           area reserve fund established by section 195-9;
 
18           provided that of the funds paid into the natural area
 
19           reserve fund:
 
20           (A)  Sixty-six per cent shall be annually disbursed to
 
21                the natural area partnership and forest
 
22                stewardship programs by the department of land and
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           232
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1                natural resources after joint consultation with
 
 2                the forest stewardship committee and the natural
 
 3                area reserves system commission[.];
 
 4           (B)  Thirty-three per cent shall be annually disbursed
 
 5                to the watershed partnership program; and
 
 6           (C)  One per cent shall be retained by the department
 
 7                of land and natural resources to cover the costs
 
 8                of administering the natural area partnership,
 
 9                forest stewardship, and watershed partnership
 
10                programs."
 
11      SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
12 New statutory material is underscored.
 
13      SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.
 
14 
 
15                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________
 
16