STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2751

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2154

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2154 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO A PILOT COMMUNITY CONSERVATION PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to create a pilot community conservation program for the Lahaina and Kaanapali areas of Maui.

     Specifically, this measure establishes a five year pilot community conservation program within the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, Maui district office.  The program will provide training to volunteers, and education, and outreach in the community on natural resources laws, regulations, and enforcement.  The measure also authorizes the Maui district office to hire ten full-time equivalent employees to staff the pilot program, and appropriates funds for the program.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by The Nature Conservancy, Maui Unite, Octopus Garden Divers, and eleven concerned individuals.  Comments on this measure were submitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

     Your Committee finds that the management and protection of the State's natural and cultural resources may be assisted through the formation of partnerships between communities and the Department of Land and Natural Resources.  Your Committee further finds that a community conservation program will empower the community through education on natural resource protection laws, increase community participation in conservation, and reduce the number of resource violations.

     Upon consideration, your Committee finds that the pilot community conservation program in the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, Maui district office, should focus on education and conservation efforts related to near-shore and marine resources.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Making amendments throughout to specify that the work of the pilot program will relate to near-shore and marine resources;

(2)  Adding a definition of the term "ahupuaa";

(3)  Deleting references to sustainably managing cultural resources as a role of the pilot program;

(4)  Specifying that the appropriation may be used for the hiring of additional staff for the pilot program;

(5)  Replacing the amount of the appropriation with an unspecified amount to facilitate further discussion on this measure; and

     (6)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

     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. 2154, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2154, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair