STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3139

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1618

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Water and Land and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1618, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require at least one member of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, other than the member with a background in conservation and natural resources, to have demonstrated expertise in native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and seven individuals.

     Your Committees find that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is obligated under the Hawaii State Constitution to preserve and protect the exercise of traditional and customary native Hawaiian rights.  Therefore, it would be of great value to have a member on the Board of Land and Natural Resources to have expertise in this area to provide guidance on natural resource protection and management decisions.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by clarifying that the requirement for the one member to have demonstrated expertise in native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices is to ensure assistance to the Board of Land and Natural Resources to better administer the public lands and resources with respect to native Hawaiian issues and concerns, the public land trust obligations, and the recognition of native Hawaiian cultural values that are intrinsically tied to the ‘aina.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1618, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1618, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________ MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair

____________________________ MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair