Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources and Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 2146 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to support and encourage diversified agriculture by permitting the leasing of a portion of a parcel for agricultural uses and activities without having to subdivide the parcel.

The University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, and Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation testified in support of this bill. The Board of Agriculture, Office of Planning, Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, and Kamehameha Schools supported the intent of this measure. The Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, opposed this measure. The Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii provided comments on this bill.

Your Committees respectfully request the Committee on Judiciary to consider:

Your Committees considered these changes, but concluded that these issues would be better addressed in the Committee on Judiciary, given its expertise on statutory language formulation.

The Sierra Club expressed serious concerns that public access may be jeopardized if agricultural leases were exempted from county subdivision ordinances.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2146 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.