Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2145, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to promote the coordination of the State's environmental justice activities and require a comprehensive review of the State's existing environmental impact statement process.

By Senate Concurrent Resolution 140, H.D. 1, Regular Session 2005, the Legislature requested the Environmental Council, with the assistance of the Office of Environmental Quality Control and the University of Hawaii Environmental Center, to develop and adopt a guidance document to address environmental justice issues. Consequently, the Environmental Council submitted a report to the Legislature outlining a plan to promote environmental justice activities in the State. This measure provides funding to implement this plan. This includes the hiring of a program director by the Environmental Council to coordinate the State's environmental justice activities, including defining "environmental justice", adopting a guidance document to address environmental justice, making recommendations to update the environmental impact statement process, and conducting outreach activities.

Your Committee understands that it has been fifteen years since a comprehensive review of the State's environmental process has been conducted. This measure provides the funding to enable the Office of Environmental Quality Control to contract with the University of Hawaii Environmental Center to conduct this comprehensive review.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2145, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2145, S.D. 2.