STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1004-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: S.B. No. 3049
                                     




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Water and Land Use, to which was referred
S.B. No. 3049 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to make certain records of the
Department of Land and Natural Resources that relate to the
location and description of historic sites, including burial
sites, confidential records.

     Testimony was received in support of the bill from the
Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and the Office of
Hawaiian Affairs (OHA).

     Your Committee finds that when the burials law was passed
into law in 1990, everyone involved in the process believed the
phrase, "are exempted from the requirements of section 92F-12,"
indicated that DLNR could keep locations and descriptions of
historic and burial sites confidential if they were deemed
sensitive by a burial council or the Hawaii historic places
review board.  However, the Office of Information Practices has
indicated that exemption from section 92F-12, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, does not result in confidentiality, and advised DLNR
that the law should be amended to simply and explicitly state
that the records, "shall be confidential."  The concern for
confidentiality of description and location information,
especially for burial and other cultural sites, is a highly
sensitive issue within the Hawaiian community.

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1004-00
                                 Page 2

 
     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Water and Land Use that is attached to this report,
your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B.
No. 3049 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be
referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Water and Land
                                   Use,



                                   ______________________________
                                   ROMY M. CACHOLA, Chair