STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1139

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   H.B. No. 1707

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1707 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROTECTION OF CAVES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to provide individuals with a direct kuleana to natural, historical, and cultural resources of the state, or a responsibility to protect these resources, with meaningful access to those resources by authorizing the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to disclose government information on cave location and resources to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the appropriate island burial council, and the recognized descendants of those entombed in the burial sites located within the land parcel on which the cave is located.

     DLNR and a concerned individual testified in support of this bill.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1)  Clarifying that the descendants to whom the confidential information may be disclosed must be lineal descendants;

(2)  Changing the effective date to January 1, 2112, to encourage further discussion; and

(3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1707, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1707, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

____________________________

TOMMY WATERS, Chair