STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1501-12

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2012

RE:   S.B. No. 2646

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred S.B. No. 2646, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BUILDING PERMITS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to encourage and support self-sufficiency in the State by providing an exemption from building permit requirements for nonresidential buildings or structures on commercial farms and ranches located outside of the urban district under certain conditions.

W.H. Shipman, Ltd.; Matsuda-Fukuyama Farms; the Hawaii Aquaculture and Aquaponics Association; High Health Aquaculture, Inc.; the East Oahu County Farm Bureau; Hooluana Ranch; Day2 Resources; and numerous individuals supported this measure.  The Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation supported this measure with amendments.  The Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu opposed this measure.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, and the Office of the Mayor of the County of Maui commented on this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that the exemption from building permit requirements is applicable, notwithstanding any other law to the contrary; 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 Water, Land, & Ocean Resources that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2646, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2646, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources,

____________________________

JERRY L. CHANG, Chair