Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water and Land Use and Energy and Environmental Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 2810, S.D. 2, entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to allow safe harbor agreements and habitat conservation plans for all lands by broadening the definition of "landowner."

This bill changes the definition of landowner from "the owner of the fee simple interest in private land" to "an owner of land or any estate or interest in that land when acting with the fee owner's consent."

This bill also clarifies that confidentiality protection is intended for private lands.

The Department of Transportation, Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, Department of Land and Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, The Estate of James Campbell, the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference, and Ducks Unlimited, Inc., testified in support of this bill. Earthjustice, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, and Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter opposed this measure.

Your Committees have amended this bill by:

(a) North-South Road, Ewa, Oahu;

(b) Cyanotech Corporation, Kona, Hawaii; and

(c) Kealakehe planned community, Kona, Hawaii.

Your Committees find that the State has an affirmative duty to protect Hawaii's endangered and threatened species. Including references to public lands in the definition of "landowner" would negate that duty. However, there may be limited circumstances where certain public lands may need to be developed to meet a greater public purpose. Under these specific circumstances, it should be the Legislature's prerogative to consider a change in policy to meet that compelling public need.

Proponents of allowing safe harbor agreements and habitat conservation plans on public lands argue that a majority of other states already allow this to occur. It should be pointed out, however, that many states do not have their own endangered species protection laws, thus defaulting to the Federal Endangered Species Act. Yet, because Hawaii has its own statute which provides greater protections specifically to plant species, and because Hawaii has the most listed endangered species in the nation, our state is uniquely situated and required to ensure that proper protections are provided.

Therefore, your Committees find that a broad amendment to the definition of "landowner" is not warranted. Instead, each project should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and approved only after disclosure under the National Environmental Policy Act or chapter 343, Hawaii Revised Statutes, indicates that all alternatives have been examined and a habitat conservation plan would offer the most practical way to mitigate negative impacts to endangered and threatened species. The disclosure process is a necessary component because it would:

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land Use and Energy and Environmental Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2810, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2810, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.