STAND. COM. REP. NO. 46
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2001
RE: H.B. No. 1529
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2001
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 1529 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WATER POLLUTION,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to increase protection of Hawaii's waters by codifying the right of citizens to sue clean water law violators.
The Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, Hawaii Audubon Society, Life of the Land, and a concerned citizen submitted testimony in support of this measure.
The Department of Environmental Services of the City and County of Honolulu, County of Kauai, Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, and Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii submitted testimony in opposition to the measure.
Hawaiian Electric Company and its subsidiaries, Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light Company submitted testimony questioning the necessity of the measure, inasmuch as the Department of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency vigorously administer the laws to protect the environment, and further, expressing its concern that the bill would precipitate lawsuits against facilities, including those that provide critical public services.
Your Committee finds that:
(1) The bill's requirement that penalties imposed by the court be deposited in the Environmental Response Revolving Fund, or used, pursuant to the court's order, in beneficial mitigation, education, or protection projects, will remove the incentive to file an action for personal financial gains;
(2) A comprehensive study by the Environmental Law Institute concluded that few citizen suits are filed frivolously; and
(3) The purpose of this measure is a recognition of and a reasonable limitation and regulation of the people's constitutional right to enforce, through appropriate legal proceedings, their right to a clean and healthful environment.
Your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Replacing the phrase "emission standard or limitation" throughout the bill with "rule or permit conditions," which is more reflective of the terminology in the State's clean water law; and
(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of style, clarity, and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1529, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1529, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection,
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____________________________ HERMINA M. MORITA, Chair |