STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3408

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 137

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 137 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF AEROSPACE DEVELOPMENT TO COORDINATE COMMENTS AND IDENTIFY A LEAD ENTITY TO PREPARE A PROPOSAL, ON BEHALF OF THE STATE, FOR HAWAII TO BE SELECTED AS ONE OF THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION'S SIX UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM TEST SITES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Director of the Office of Aerospace Development, in consultation with the Hawaii Aerospace Advisory Committee, to coordinate comments from interested parties and identify a lead entity to prepare a proposal, on behalf of the State, to the Federal Aviation Administration for Hawaii to be selected as an unmanned aircraft system test site.

     Written comments in support of this measure were submitted by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.

     Your Committee finds that the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish six unmanned aircraft system test sites.  Operations at these sites will provide critical data necessary to establish flight operations, certification standards, regulatory standards, and air traffic requirements to ensure safe operations for public and private unmanned aircraft systems.  Your Committee also finds that the Federal Aviation Administration has recently initiated a search for the six unmanned aircraft system test sites in the United States.  As part of this search, the Federal Aviation Administration has begun soliciting public comments for the purposes of refining test site requirements, designation standards, and oversight activities.  Upon completion of the comment period, the Federal Aviation Administration will issue a request for proposals to develop unmanned aircraft system test sites.

     Your Committee believes that the selection of Hawaii as a national unmanned aircraft system test site would earn the State recognition as a center of excellence for the development and testing of advanced aviation technologies, create high-paying jobs in the State, and generate new streams of revenue into the State.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying the parties to whom certified copies of this measure shall be transmitted; and

     (2)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity 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 concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 137, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 137, S.D. 1.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair