STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1030
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: S.B. No. 1474
S.D. 1
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 Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred S.B. No. 1474, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE MAUNA KEA SCIENCE RESERVE AUTHORITY,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to improve the management of the Mauna Kea Science Reserve (Reserve) by requiring the Auditor to conduct a study:
(1) On existing approval and decision-making procedures for the Reserve; and
(2) To determine the feasibility and necessity of creating a new management authority for the Reserve.
Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, supported this bill. The University of Hawaii, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce offered comments.
Your Committee recognizes the importance of evaluating the current management of the Reserve and of exploring the idea of a new management authority to oversee the Reserve. However, your Committee notes that the Auditor has already performed an audit of the management of the Reserve and notes that some of the Auditor's recommendations have already been put into effect. The studies contained in this measure may be more appropriately conducted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
In light of this, your Committee has amended this bill by replacing the Auditor with the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) as the agency responsible for conducting the studies. In addition, your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Deleting the provision in the purpose section that requires any new proposed management authority for the Reserve to protect the Reserve's natural, cultural, and historic resources while addressing the concerns of local groups with a strong interest in Mauna Kea;
(2) Clarifying that LRB consider in its study whether the existing approval and decision-making procedures for the Reserve sufficiently address the concerns of all parties with a strong interest in Mauna Kea;
(3) Clarifying that LRB consider in its study whether a new project approval process is necessary or desirable to address the concerns of all parties with a strong interest in Mauna Kea;
(4) Clarifying that LRB conduct a study to determine the feasibility, necessity, and desirability of creating a new management authority for the Reserve;
(5) Including in the study an assessment of the appropriateness of the conservation district use application process as it relates to the Reserve; and
(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1474, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1474, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Higher Education.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources,
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____________________________ EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair |