STAND. COM. REP. NO. 965-06
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2006
RE: S.B. No. 2358
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 Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred S.B. No. 2358, S.D. 2, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROTECTION OF FOREST RESERVES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to protect Hawaii's forest reserves by:
(1) Providing for procedures to establish and collect administrative fines for violations of forest reserve laws, which, among other things, prohibit the destruction of timber growing on forest reserves of the State; and
(2) Increasing the criminal fine from $1,000 to $2,000, and an additional $2,000 imposed for every tree illegally destroyed or harvested.
The Nature Conservancy testified in support of this bill. The Department of Land and Natural Resources and Hawaii Forest Industry Association supported this measure with amendments.
Your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Inserting language from H.B. No. 2396, H.D. 1, that:
(A) Allows all revenue derived from forest reserves, including fines for violations, to be deposited into the Forest Stewardship Fund (Fund); and
(B) Allows the statutorily authorized portion of the conveyance tax deposited into the Fund to be used for the management of the Forest Reserve System, in addition to the Forest Stewardship Program; and
(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.
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. 2358, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2358, 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 Water, Land, & Ocean Resources,
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____________________________ EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair |
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