Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 1268 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Agribusiness Development Corporation to issue revenue bonds to obtain agricultural land and enable them to provide lease management services.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and Hawaii Farm Bureau. Comments were also submitted by the Agribusiness Development Corporation and Hawaii Agriculture Research Center.

The area from Waialua to Central Oahu is considered prime agricultural land with optimum growing conditions and access to affordable agricultural water. Your Committee believes that, as much as possible, these lands should be kept in use for agriculture. This measure secures a portion of these lands to ensure that farming will continue in the future.

Your Committee adopted the amendments suggested by the Agribusiness Development Corporation. They are as follows:

Your Committee also noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service implemented a Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program that provides funding to protect working agricultural land from conversion to non-agricultural uses. It was noted in the testimony from the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center that last year, money was allocated for the State, counties, or qualifying nonprofit organizations to utilize; however, the funding went unused.

This year, money was also earmarked for this State, and your Committee hopes that the money is not returned unused again. Thus, your Committee has further amended this measure by providing that the Corporation may purchase, accept, and maintain permanent conservation easements in accordance with the Natural Resources Conservation Service Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1268, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1268, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.