STAND. COM. REP. NO. 260
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: H.B. No. 1311
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2005
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred H.B. No. 1311 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to allow a renewable energy producer to acquire an option to lease a parcel of public land from the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
A Maui County Council member testified in support of the bill. The Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance testified in support of the bill's intent. The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) opposed this bill.
Your Committees find that this bill will assist companies working to provide renewable energy sources by providing them with an option to lease an identified parcel of public land from DLNR.
Your Committees have amended this bill by:
(1) Authorizing rather than mandating the Board of Natural Resources to give the lease option and determine the fees and conditions for the option;
(2) Allowing the terms of the option to lease to be made public as long as the disclosure of terms does not make the lessee's proprietary business information available to the public; and
(3) Deleting the prohibition against a renewable energy producer holding the lease option on more than one parcel on each island at one time.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Water, Land, & Ocean Resources that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1311, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1311, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Water, Land, & Ocean Resources,
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____________________________ EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair |
____________________________ HERMINA MORITA, Chair |
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