STAND. COM. REP. NO. 839
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: H.B. No. 712
H.D. 2
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2005
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 712, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTER 6E,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to protect historical and cultural sites and artifacts. Specifically, this bill makes it a criminal offense for any person to knowingly:
(1) Take, appropriate, excavate, injure, destroy, or alter any historic property or aviation artifact located on private lands or lands owned or controlled by the State or counties, without permission;
(2) Take, appropriate, excavate, injure, destroy, or alter any burial site, or its contents, located on private lands or lands owned or controlled by the State or counties, without permission;
(3) Take, appropriate, excavate, injure, destroy, or alter any burial site, or its contents, during the course of land development or land alteration activities that have not been approved under section 6E-42, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and
(4) Fail to stop work in the immediate area and report the discovery in cases when a burial site is discovered.
This bill also clarifies that the unlawful actions set forth in paragraphs (1) through (4) above are also subject to civil and administrative penalties under the historic preservation law, which are in addition to the criminal penalties provided under the historic preservation law and any other penalties that may be imposed pursuant to law.
Moreover, this bill establishes that it is a civil and administrative violation to knowingly fail to re-inter human remains discovered on private lands or lands owned by the State or counties, in a reasonable period of time as determined by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).
DLNR, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Pae 'Aina Communications, LLP, testified in support of this bill.
Your Committee has amended this bill by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style, including:
(1) Adding the definition of "person" as any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, or association, and amending the bill accordingly to avoid repetitiousness;
(2) Amending section 6E-11.5, HRS, to except the provisions of section 6E-11, and distinguish between the civil and criminal penalties provided by the bill; and
(3) Adding a savings clause.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 712, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 712, H.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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____________________________ SYLVIA LUKE, Chair |
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