STAND

STAND. COM. REP. 1147

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 840

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 Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 840, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to protect Hawaii's natural environment and address potential conflicts of interest in the environmental review process by:

(1) Including proposals for any wastewater facilities, waste-to-energy facilities, landfills, oil refineries, or power-generating facilities in the list of proposals for which an environment assessment is required; and

(2) Authorizing the Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC), in cases where a conflict of interest may exist because the agency proposing the action and the agency making the determination are the same, to review the agency's final determination, consult the agency, and make a final determination to determine whether an environmental impact statement shall be required for the proposed action.

The Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, Life of the Land, Na Leo Pohai, and Hawaii's Thousand Friends supported this bill. OEQC supported the intent of this bill. The Department of Transportation, Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu, and the Board of Water Supply for the City and County of Honolulu opposed this bill.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Excluding "individual wastewater systems" from the list of proposals for which an environmental assessment is required; and

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

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. 840, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 840, S.D. 1, 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