STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 991-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 2949

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 2949, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE VOLUNTARY RESPONSE PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to make the Voluntary Response Program (VRP) stronger, easier to use and administer, and to increase its availability by, among other things:

(1) Clarifying that the exemption from future liability to the State under the VRP applies to VRP actions in accord with the state Environmental Response Law (ERL), and includes non-carcinogenic substances;

(2) Allowing the Director of Health to reduce fees for public and nonprofit agencies;

(3) Permitting the Director of Health (Director) to make exceptions for naturally occurring substances; and

(4) Permitting the use of exempt positions to support other voluntary activities under the ERL.

The Department of Health (DOH) and a concerned individual testified in support of this bill. The Hawaii Community Development Authority supported the intent of this measure. The Sierra Club-Hawaii Chapter, testified in opposition to this bill.

Your Committee finds that the VRP was established to encourage owners and prospective purchasers of contaminated property to work voluntarily and cooperatively with DOH to ensure that investigation and clean-up of contaminated property occurred prior to the selling or purchasing of the property. This bill will make the VRP more accessible and feasible to organizations that may have otherwise found "clean-up" of a property cost prohibitive.

Although this measure warrants further discussion, your Committee still has some concerns over certain provisions contained within the bill. Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill by clarifying that:

(1) The Director is responsible for determining the standards to be used when considering granting an exemption from future liability for naturally occurring substances;

(2) The party requesting the exemption shall be responsible for demonstrating to the Director that assistance from the VRP will achieve the risk level required by the Director; and

(3) Best scientific data shall be used in determining the levels of a hazardous substance that are naturally occurring.

Other technical, nonsubstantive amendments were made for clarity, consistency, and style.

Your Committee notes that the issue of liability is beyond the purview of the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection and respectfully requests the Committee on Judiciary to further examine these issues. Your Committee also respectfully requests that, should this measure be passed on to a conference committee, that the Chair of the Committee on Judiciary be assigned as a co-chair of the conference committee.

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 S.B. No. 2949, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2949, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection,

		____________________________ HERMINA M. MORITA, Chair