STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1850

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   S.B. No. 870

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 870, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DESIGNATION OF A HAWAII ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA SURVEY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to provide public access to existing documentation of archaeological work of the Hawaiian archipelago, beginning with the collections of Bishop Museum, by:

     (1)  Establishing a Hawaii Archaeological Data Survey (Survey) that consists of an online database;

     (2)  Designating the Survey as a program of the Bishop Museum, which has been designated as the State of Hawaii Museum of Natural and Cultural History (Museum) under section 6E-40, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

     (3)  Allowing the Museum, in consultation with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), to withhold certain sensitive information from the database.

     OHA and Bishop Museum testified in support of this bill.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and Society for Hawaii Archaeology opposed this measure.  The Office of Information Practices provided comments.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Adding DLNR as an agency that the Museum must consult with in deciding which information may be withheld from the database;

     (2)  Requiring a consensus among the Museum, OHA, and DLNR to determine what information is withheld from the Survey; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 870, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 870, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair