STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1000-06

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2006

RE: S.B. No. 2214

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2214, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISASTER PREPAREDNESS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to increase the State's readiness and capability to provide appropriate response to disasters or emergencies.

Specifically, the bill improves the State's ability to provide a timely disaster response by:

(1) Establishing the civil defense disaster preparedness special fund and making an appropriation to the fund from the hurricane reserve trust fund to be expended by the Director of Civil Defense for disaster preparedness planning and response;

(2) Requiring hospitals, nursing homes, and hotels to prepare disaster preparedness plans to provide adequate emergency shelter for patients, guests, and staff;

(3) Requiring the Department of Health to conduct a study to assess the structural integrity of all hospitals and nursing homes in Hawaii;

(4) Requiring the counties to identify, designate, and maintain areas to be used for temporary emergency shelters for the homeless and makes an appropriation therefor;

(5) Making an appropriation to increase the number of safe emergency shelters in the community;

(6) Allowing the Governor, on declaring an emergency, to release funds from the emergency and budget reserve fund to provide emergency assistance to residents and businesses in the State;

(7) Increasing the amount of funds available from the major disaster fund in the event of a major disaster or emergency from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000;

(8) Requiring the Departments of Education and Defense to assess the disaster-worthiness of Department of Education facilities designated as emergency shelters, making an appropriation to retrofit facilities in need of upgrades, and identify sites for new emergency shelters;

(9) Establishing a rebuttable presumption that electric transmission lines will be placed underground in tsunami-prone areas; and

(10) Reordering the provisions of the bill to organize them under separate parts relating to disaster preparedness concerning planning and assessment, and response.

Your Committee finds that this bill is particularly timely, in light of the damage suffered by residents, businesses, and farmers in the State as a result of recent heavy and continuing rains and floods. The events of a few minutes can cause massive devastation. Timely, effective response to natural disaster is clearly a priority to protect the residents of this State. Your Committee believes this bill would assist the State to properly and effectively prepare for and respond to disasters and emergency.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Establishing a prepared emergency response commission and setting forth the qualifications for commission members and the duties of the commission;

(2) Requiring the disaster preparedness emergency shelter plan to include suitable arrangements for sheltering pet animals in public shelters; and

(3) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2214, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2214, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs,

 

____________________________

KEN ITO, Chair