CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 74-12

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2012

RE:    S.B. No. 2001

       S.D. 1

       H.D. 2

       C.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 2001, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE PUBLIC LAND TRUST,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

     The purpose of this measure is to amend the Hawaii State Planning Act to include, as a policy of the State, promoting the development of indigenous renewable energy resources located on public trust land as an affordable and reliable source of firm power for Hawaii and to require consultation and public input from the Native Hawaiian community and general public when developing projects with public land trust lands.

     Your Committee on Conference finds that renewable energy resources are assets of the public trust but have not been adequately recognized or developed by the State as such.  Trust law requires the State, as trustee of these renewable energy assets, to ensure that there is a direct benefit for the beneficiaries of the public trust land who are Native Hawaiians and the public. Specifically, geothermal resources have been developed to generate electricity on the island of Hawaii for more than seventeen years.  However, the development of geothermal resources has yet to create a real or direct benefit to the residents of the land from which the resources are sourced.

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Substituting the reference to "indigenous renewable energy" with "indigenous geothermal energy"; and

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2012.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2001, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2001, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ DENNY COFFMAN, Co-Chair	____________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair
____________________________ JERRY L. CHANG, Co-Chair	____________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Co-Chair
____________________________ FAYE HANOHANO, Co-Chair
____________________________ DEREK S.K. KAWAKAMI, Co-Chair