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. 2484 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the installation of two vog monitoring stations, one at Mountain View and one at Pahala on the island of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii has erupted continuously for twenty three years and has emitted thousands of tons of gases containing sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. These gases react with other chemicals in the air to produce a visible haze, often referred to as vog.

Vog has been shown to cause a variety of illnesses, including adolescent allergies, asthma, and other respiratory diseases. Vog is also linked to bronchitis, cardiac problems and other medical maladies related to the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs.

In response to the health threat posed by vog, the Legislature adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 135 in 2005, to request the Department of Health to implement a vog monitoring plan.

Pursuant to the recommendations made in the Department's plan, this bill appropriates funds to establish vog monitoring stations at Mountain View and Pahala on the island of Hawaii that are equipped with sulfur dioxide monitors and meteorological equipment. The information from the stations would:

Your Committee has amended the bill 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. 2484, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2484, S.D. 1.