STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1238-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 3052

S.D. 2

H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 3052, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL LANDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to implement Article XI, section 3, of the State Constitution, that mandates the Legislature to identify important agricultural lands (IALs). This bill, among other things:

(1) Establishes:

(A) Policies and procedures for identifying and managing IALs;

(B) Standards and criteria for the identification of IALs;

(C) An additional IAL designation process that allows landowners to volunteer lands for IAL designation to the county and Land Use Commission (LUC) within 18 months after the enactment of this bill and authorizes the county to adopt rules to govern the process;

(D) Policies for incentives for the long-term or permanent retention of IALs for agricultural use, to be reviewed by state and county agencies every three years;

(E) A process by which the LUC considers the county's identification and mapping of IALs in designating IALs;

(F) Standards and criteria for the reclassification or rezoning of IALs;

(G) A provision that IALs may be subdivided into leasehold lots for solely agricultural uses and are exempted from county subdivision ordinances;

(H) A provision for the periodic review of IALs maps to seriously consider the removal of IAL designation for lands that have insufficient available water; and

(I) An agricultural infrastructure improvement tax credit for improvements made to agricultural infrastructure on IALs;

(2) Requires the LUC to:

(A) Process district boundary amendments involving IALs;

(B) Approve county special permits for land designated as an IAL; and

(C) Consider the established IAL standards and criteria in reviewing a petition for reclassification of district boundaries;

(3) Clarifies that the county has jurisdiction over land less than 15 acres in the agriculture district that is not designated as an IAL;

(4) Requires the county to transmit a copy of the special permit records for IAL lands to the LUC, Office of Planning (OP)of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, and the Department of Agriculture (DOA);

(5) Requires each county to identify and map IALs based on established standards and criteria, except lands designated for urban use by the State or county;

(6) Requires the county to submit its IAL recommendations to the LUC within two years after receiving state funds for the identification and mapping of IALs;

(7) Appropriates $2,000,000 to DOA for disbursement to each county that submits a satisfactory proposed work plan for the identity and mapping of IALs;

(8) Provides that the designation of IALs by the LUC is contingent upon the enactment by the Legislature of incentives for IALs; and

(9) Directs DOA, with the assistance of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, to develop and recommend incentives and other measures to promote the viability of IALs and appropriates an unspecified sum for that purpose.

The Big Island Business Council, Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference, and a concerned individual submitted testimony in support of this measure. The DOA, Department of Land and Natural Resources, OP, LUC, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, Kamehameha Schools, and Maui County Farm Bureau supported this measure with amendments. The Department of Taxation and ILWU Local 142 supported the intent of this measure. The Planning Department of the County of Hawaii, Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, and Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter supported the intent of this measure with amendments. The Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu, and Office of Hawaiian Affairs opposed this measure. The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, and Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., offered comments.

Your Committee recognizes that this bill involves contentious IALs issues, and your Committee intends to move this bill to Conference to facilitate further discussion that may lead to a possible resolution of these issues.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2010, to facilitate further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3052, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3052, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

		____________________________ DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Chair