STAND. COM. REP. NO.  197

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   H.B. No. 1340

      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 Public Safety & Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1340 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE LOSS MITIGATION GRANT PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to increase disaster preparedness by encouraging the private development of residential safe rooms.

     More specifically, this bill removes the administrative rulemaking authority of the Department of Defense over the design standards for those residential safe rooms and gives the Insurance Commissioner the sole discretion over the definitions, descriptions, specifications, and requirements regarding wind resistive devices.

     Your Committee finds that the installation of wind resistive devices in dwellings is eligible for grants awarded by the Insurance Commissioner under the loss mitigation grant program.  Under present law, the Insurance Commissioner has the sole discretion over the definitions, descriptions, specifications, and requirements regarding all wind resistive devices except for residential safe rooms, which are presently subject to design standards developed by the Department of Defense through rulemaking.  Your Committee believes that placing residential safe rooms on parity with other wind resistive devices will expedite the installation of these life-saving devices, whose installation would otherwise be hindered by cumbersome rulemaking processes.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Insurance Division.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2015 and by making technical nonsubstantive corrections.

     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 H.B. No. 1340, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1340, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

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

____________________________

CINDY EVANS, Chair