STAND

STAND. COM. REP. 903

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 843

S.D. 1

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 S.B. No. 843, S.D. 1, 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 address the survival and protection of the State's endangered and threatened flora and fauna by:

(1) Bringing state law closer into conformity with federal regulations relating to habitat conservation plans (HCPs) and safe harbor agreements (SHAs); and

(2) Providing a system of checks and balances to the HCP and SHA process to ensure that the incentives actually promote the conservation of threatened and endangered species and prevent the intentional or unintentional actions of landowners, public or private, from either pushing species to extinction or preventing their recovery.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Transportation, Hawaii Audubon Society, EarthJustice, Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, Environmental Defense, and Conservation Council for Hawaii submitted comments on this bill. The Hawaii Forest Industry Association, Life of the Land, and Hawaii Reserves, Inc., submitted testimony in opposition to this measure.

Inasmuch as this bill authorizes HCPs and SHAs for public lands and the suspension or revocation of the HCP or SHA if the permitted activity appreciably reduces the likelihood of survival or recovery of any threatened or endangered species, your Committees find that citizen suits and greater-than-majority votes of the Legislature to override a disapproval recommendation of an HCP or SHA by the Endangered Species Recovery Committee (ESRC) are vital components in the system of checks and balances in the HCP and SHA process.

After careful consideration, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Authorizing any person, acting as a private attorney general, to commence a civil suit against the government for violating or failing to perform acts or duties under the laws of chapter 195D, relating to conservation of aquatic life, wildlife, and land plants;

(2) Requiring a two-thirds majority vote of both houses of the Legislature for the Board of Land and Natural Resources (Board) to enter into a HCP or SHA, if the ESRC recommended disapproval to the Board;

(3) Clarifying that the consent of the land owner, in the case of government-owned land, is the consent of the government department or agency that is assigned to manage or control the particular land; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments 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 S.B. No. 843, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 843, S.D. 1,

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,

____________________________ HERMINA M. MORITA, Chair		____________________________ EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair