STAND. COM. REP. NO.  979-12

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2012

RE:   S.B. No. 2746

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 2746, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to continue to incentivize the use of electric vehicles and make the existing laws pertaining to electric vehicles more readily accessible to the general public by generally codifying the incentives for registration, licensing, parking, and the operation of electric vehicles which were established under Act 290, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997.

The Department of Transportation testified in support of this measure.  The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, Department of Accounting and General Services, and Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers testified in support of the intent of this measure.

     Hawaii relies primarily on the consumption of imported oil to satisfy its energy needs.  Much of this imported oil is used for the production of gasoline to fuel internal combustion engines.  With over one million registered motor vehicles on Hawaii's roadways, the consumption of gasoline can be enormous.

     One possible mechanism to reduce the consumption of petroleum products is to promote the use of newer technologies in everyday life.  In 1997, the Legislature recognized that the emergence of alternatives to fossil-fueled vehicles had the potential to significantly reduce Hawaii's dependency on petroleum-based products and enacted legislation to incentivize the use of electric vehicles.  The Legislature intended that Act to increase the use of electric vehicles in Hawaii by providing incentives for the registration, licensing, parking, and operation of electric vehicles.  However, as this law was never statutorily codified, the general public could not readily and easily access it.  This measure addresses this issue.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Conforming the definition of "electric vehicle" to federal standards by specifying that the vehicle draw propulsion energy from a battery with at least four kilowatt hours of energy storage capacity; and

     (2)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2021, to facilitate further discussion.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2746, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2746, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

____________________________

JOSEPH M. SOUKI, Chair