HCR200

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	200
TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting an audit of the department of land and natural resources and its board.

WHEREAS, the people of Hawaii have declared through their State Constitution their intention that "the State and its political subdivisions shall conserve and protect Hawaii's natural beauty and all natural resources including land, water, air, minerals and energy sources"; and

WHEREAS, the people have further declared through their State Constitution that "all public natural resources are held in trust by the State for the benefit of the people"; and

WHEREAS, this constitutional trust responsibility has been assigned with no end date, which on its face implies a trust responsibility in perpetuity; and

WHEREAS, the management of this trust responsibility over Hawaii's natural resources has been vested by the Legislature primarily in the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) and the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR); and

WHEREAS, BLNR oversees day-to-day responsibilities of DLNR with respect to management and oversight of the natural resources, and the myriad uses or non-uses of these resources; and

WHEREAS, several audits conducted by the State Auditor (Auditor) on programs, finances, and organizational units of DLNR reveal weaknesses in the management of DLNR's responsibilities over the natural resources; and

WHEREAS, management problems may also be indicated by a number of recent managerial vacancies in DLNR and the large number of vacant operating positions; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature is concerned with the loss of institutional memory that results when long-serving staff departs, the frequent unflattering headline-generating activities of departmental programs, and the gamut of constituent complaints that legislators receive about DLNR's enforcement or lack thereof; and

WHEREAS, it has become evident to the Legislature that an opportunity now presents itself for an audit by the Auditor that goes beyond an ordinary management audit to one that addresses the long-term mission of BLNR and DLNR and their ability to sustain the resources entrusted to them; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct an audit of DLNR and BLNR that addresses, at a minimum, the following:

(1) The approach taken by DLNR and BLNR with respect to plans and programs to sustain their trust responsibility for the state's natural resources;

(2) Performance indicators developed by DLNR and BLNR to prove their stewardship of the state's natural resources;

(3) DLNR's and BLNR's financial plans, over a defensible planning horizon, to match funding with programming;

(4) Policies and procedures, management and personnel guidelines, and enforcement mechanisms to align staff performance with plans and budget requests;

(5) Collaboration that DLNR and BLNR initiate or maintain with other state and county agencies also charged with responsibility to sustain the state's natural resources; and

(6) Any other issues that the Auditor deems appropriate to audit;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that other agencies of the State are requested to cooperate with the Auditor, especially agencies that may be able to provide long-term perspectives on the sustainability of the State's limited resources; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature at least twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the Governor, Board of Land and Natural Resources, and Department of Land and Natural Resources.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Requesting the Auditor to conduct an audit of the Department of Land and Natural Resources and its board.