STAND. COM. REP. 165
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: H.B. No. 476
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2003
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs and Energy and Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 476 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONSERVATION OF AQUATIC LIFE, WILDLIFE, AND LAND PLANTS,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to:
(1) Broaden the definition of "landowner" to include state and county governments with respect to entering into a safe harbor agreement (SHA) and a habitat conservation plan (HCP) to eliminate the necessity for legislative approval for each SHA or HCP on public lands;
(2) Require legislative approval in the event that the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) votes to enter into a HCP or SHA against the recommendations of the endangered species recovery committee (ESRC);
(3) Require SHA on public lands for a minimum of fifteen years;
(4) Place the obligation for additional mitigation measures on the landowner rather than the State or federal government;
(5) Clarify that confidentiality of SHA and HCP apply only to private lands;
(6) Require that ESRC conduct at least one site visit to each property subjected to a proposed action;
(7) Change visits to established SHA and HCP sites from not more than one per year to at least once per year to increase compliance; and
(8) Allow for citizen suits.
The Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, EarthJustice, and Hawaii Audubon Society testified in support of this bill. The Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Transportation submitted testimony supporting the intent of this measure. The Hawaii Forest Industry Association, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference, Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, and The Estate of James Campbell opposed this bill. The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii submitted comments on this measure.
Recognizing that the success of the State's endangered species program relies on the willing participation of private landowners, your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Deleting the landowner obligation for additional mitigation measures that are deemed necessary;
(2) Deleting the citizen suit provisions; and
(3) Requiring BLNR to suspend or revoke any HCP or SHA where the continuation of the permitted activity would likely and appreciably reduce the survival or recovery of the threatened or endangered species.
Other technical, nonsubstantive amendments were made for purposes of clarity, style, and conformity.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs and Energy and Environmental Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 476, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 476, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs and Energy and Environmental Protection,
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____________________________ HERMINA M. MORITA, Chair |
____________________________ EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair |
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