Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 1034 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to transfer the powers, duties, and authority relating to the disposition of agricultural lands from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to the Department of Agriculture.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, Hawaii Forest Industry Association, and Hawaii Farm Bureau. Oral testimony in support of this measure was submitted by a concerned citizen. The Boards of Agriculture and Land and Natural Resources submitted comments on the measure.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Agriculture has the expert resource base more in tune with the needs of the agricultural community and with the policy set by the State Constitution. The Department of Agriculture works with the agricultural community on a daily basis on a variety of issues such as those relating to pests and disease, marketing, quarantine, livestock, transportation. It would be more efficient for the state agricultural lessees to deal with one state agency. The Department of Agriculture, however, wishes to be assured that transferred leases would be in consonance with long-term utilization in agricultural production of leased public agricultural lands.

Your Committee also finds that because the Departments of Agriculture and Land and Natural Resources want to be in agreement about the rules for the framework of the transfer, the chairs of the departments met to decide on the wording of the amendments. They submitted a draft of that wording to your Committee.

Your Committee has amended this measure by replacing its contents with the provisions provided by the two departments. These amendments specify that the new chapter would look to the State Constitution for justification of the transfer of lands, and provides the Department of Agriculture with the ability to accept lands from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The measure, as amended, provides definitions; requires mutual agreement and approval of the Boards of Agriculture and Land and Natural Resources for the transfer of any lands and personnel or other assets; provides for rulemaking by the Department of Agriculture; creates a program for the management of the transferred lands; establishes a special fund for "other agricultural lands"; converts qualified and encumbered other agricultural lands; and extends other agricultural lands encumbered by permit and transferred to and managed by the Department of Agriculture. Your Committee also added a provision requiring the Boards of Agriculture and Land and Natural Resources to report to the 2004 Legislature on their efforts to effectuate the transfers authorized under this measure.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1034, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1034, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.