STAND. COM. REP. NO.  170

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2013

RE:   H.B. No. 932

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 932 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MINERAL RESOURCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to promote renewable energy in Hawaii by, among other things:

     (1)  Providing that all penalties, fees, and costs established and collected by the Department of Land and Natural Resources pursuant to Chapter 182, Hawaii Revised Statutes, (Reservation and Disposition of Government Mineral Rights), be deposited in the Special Land and Development Fund;

     (2)  Including geothermal resources within the definition of a renewable energy producer; and

     (3)  Clarifying the permitting procedures for regulators and renewable energy developers considering geothermal development.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources; the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Enterprise Honolulu; Indigenous Consultants, LLC; and the Innovations Development Group supported this measure.  A concerned individual opposed this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 932, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 932, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Water & Land.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection,

____________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair