STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2838

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 3102

       S.D. 2

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. 3102, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE LAND CONSERVATION FUND,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to provide for greater protection of lands that have value as a resource to the State by allowing:

     (1)  Public and private moneys to be deposited into the land conservation fund and distributed as grants for the acquisition of land having value as a resource to the State; and

     (2)  Moneys from the land conservation fund to be used for the costs of operating, maintaining, and managing lands acquired by way of the land conservation fund.

     The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, and the Nature Conservatory submitted testimony in support of this measure.  The Trust for Public Land submitted testimony in opposition to this measure.

     The Legacy Land Conservation Program is currently funded through an annual transfer of ten per cent of the conveyance tax to the land conservation fund.  The program has successfully partnered with state and county agencies, as well as nonprofit land conservation organizations to protect a significant amount of the State's resource value lands.  However, in the first two years of the program's existence, the applicants' requests have exceeded the sums available to be awarded.

     Your Committee finds that this measure will increase the number of quality projects that can be funded through the program by permitting other public and private moneys to be deposited into the land conservation fund.  This measure will also help protect resources at risk on the resource value lands by allowing moneys from the land conservation fund to be used for the costs of operating, maintaining, and managing lands acquired by way of the land conservation fund.  This will ultimately provide greater public access and enjoyment of the resource value lands.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Specifying that the costs related to the operation, maintenance, and management of lands acquired by way of the land conservation fund cannot exceed five per cent of annual fund revenues of the previous year, not costs in general; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for 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. 3102, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3102, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair