STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1023-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   H.B. No. 2704

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 2704, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HA`IKU VALLEY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to preserve and protect the historic and cultural resources of Ha‘iku Valley on the island of Oahu by establishing the Ha‘iku Valley Cultural Preserve Commission (Commission) to oversee policy and management of the Ha‘iku Valley Cultural Preserve (Preserve).  This bill also authorizes the Office of Planning and the Attorney General to initiate the conveyance of the Preserve in fee simple to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) after consultation with the Commission, and appropriates funds for that purpose.

     The Koolaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club and several concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.  The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), and OHA provided comments.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1)  Removing the provision authorizing the Commission to carry out the powers and duties of the Board of Land and Natural Resources and Land Use Commission relating to the dispositions and approvals of land in the Preserve;

(2)  Removing the provision authorizing the Commission to carry out the powers and duties of the Island Burial Council and DLNR relating to the proper treatment of burial sites and human skeletal remains found in the Preserve;

(3)  Removing the provision authorizing the Commission to use the DLNR civil natural resources violations system;

(4)  Removing the provision requiring the property to be held in trust as part of the public land trust when the Preserve is conveyed to OHA;

(5)  Removing the provision requiring the management and control of the Preserve to be transferred to the sovereign native Hawaiian entity upon its recognition by the United States and the State when the Preserve is conveyed to OHA;

(6)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion; and

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

     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 H.B. No. 2704, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2704, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair