CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO.175

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1640

H.D. 3

S.D. 2

C.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 1640, H.D. 3, S.D. 2, entitled:

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

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to establish policies and procedures for identifying important agricultural lands (IALs) and for developing state and county incentives to promote IAL viability.

Specifically, this measure establishes:

(1) A new part in chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), that sets forth policies and procedures for the identification of IALs, including:

(a) Policies and objectives to assure the conservation and availability of IALs for long-term agricultural use;

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

(d) Standards and criteria for reclassification and rezoning of lands identified as IALs; and

(e) Policies for incentives for the long-term retention of IALs to be used for agriculture; and

(2) A process to develop proposals for state and county incentives to promote agricultural viability, sustained growth of the agriculture industry, and the long-term use and protection of IALs for agricultural use.

Your Committee on Conference notes that incompatible uses neighboring each other cause conflicts that impair agricultural activities. Often agricultural, rural, and conservation lands serve as buffers between lands that may be deemed IALs and urban or other incompatible uses. However, your Committee on Conference believes that buffer requirements should be examined further for future legislation and should be included as standards for districting and classifying agriculture lands under section 205-2, HRS. Thus, your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by deleting the provision that requires agricultural lands not designated as IALs or any appropriate rural or conservation district lands to be used as buffers.

Your Committee on Conference has further amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying the farmer or landowner petition process for designating land as IALs;

(2) Requiring that petitions for designating land as IALs include verification and authorization from the applicable landowners;

(3) Clarifying what the Land Use Commission will consider when it is identifying and designating IALs;

(4) Clarifying when the Land Use Commission may designate lands as IALs and adopt maps for IAL designations;

(5) Providing that the counties will adopt ordinances for IAL standards rather than for IAL leasehold or fee simple subdivisions requirements;

(6) Clarifying that the subdivided lots should not be used solely for residential occupancy in counties without ordinances;

(7) Changing the expending agency from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to be disbursed by the Land Use Commission;

(8) Clarifying that the Land Use Commission rather than the Department of Agriculture will submit their annual reports to the Legislature;

(9) Inserting an amount of $75,000 into the appropriation for grants-in-aid to the counties for the identification and mapping of IALs;

(10) Inserting an amount of $75,000 into the appropriation for the development of proposals for incentives and other programs for agricultural development and agricultural land protection; and

(11) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for style, clarity, and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1640, H.D. 3, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1640, H.D. 3, S.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

____________________________ Russell S. Kokubun, Chair		____________________________ Ezra R. Kanoho, Co-Chair
____________________________ Brian T. Taniguchi, Co-Chair		____________________________ Felipe P. Abinsay, Jr. Co-Chair Chair
		____________________________ Robert N. Herkes, Co-Chair
		____________________________ Dwight Takamine, Co-Chair