STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2370

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2868

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Economic Development and Taxation and Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2868 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to establish an archaeological data survey as an online database program under the State of Hawaii Museum of Natural and Cultural History, and authorize the Museum, in consultation with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the State Historic Preservation Division to withhold information from the database if a disclosure may pose a threat to a site or artifact.

     Testimony in support of this measure was received from Bishop Museum.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology submitted comments and recommendations for amendments.

     Your Committees support the concept of this measure and are encouraged that the proponents and other parties continue to work in a collaborative effort to resolve their differences and concerns.  Your Committees have received amendments recommended by the Bishop Museum, the State Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology.

     Your Committees have amended this measure accordingly, by:

     (1)  Stating that the online database is accessible to the public;

     (2)  Clarifying that the information within the database may include the collections of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, publicly available materials, and materials from private entities or organizations, and that the database may include archaeological information including reports, photographs, drawings, maps, and archived documents; and

     (3)  Adding language to specify that the database may also include compilations of collections information from public and private repositories, including a description of the materials and associated documentation in each collection, a listing of the owner or owners, a general assessment of the condition of the components; and other relevant information pertaining to each collection.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Economic Development and Taxation and Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2868, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2868, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Economic Development and Taxation and Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________ JILL TOKUDA, Chair

____________________________ CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair