STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2137

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2397

       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 Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 2397 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to create an agricultural technology park under the High Technology Development Corporation.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, High Technology Development Corporation, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, and one individual.

     Your Committees find that technology applications have greatly assisted farmers with various tasks.  These tools monitor irrigation systems, mapping, grazing, pest management, harvest, weather, and fertilizer applications, all in real-time.  These sophisticated technologies also have additional benefits in material cost, labor, and fuel savings, as the farmer can refer to electronic files rather than driving out to a specific field.  Moreover, as the federal government moves forward with the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, technological applications will be needed to assist farmers in tracking which crops were planted in which fields, soil types, and irrigation control.

     Your Committees further find that former agricultural industrial lands of the Galbraith Trust have infrastructure and warehouses to support food safety, packaging, and processing, and to store produce farmed on the nearby lands.  As such, an agricultural technology park can be planned and designed on these lands in consultation with various agencies, such as the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Planning and Permitting and Department of Environmental Services, to comply with the most current Wahiawa community town and master plan and Wahiawa urban design plan.  After processes and technologies are updated to align with federal regulations, this state-owned land can provide the setting for bridging the agricultural and technology gap, while providing agritourism benefits.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2397, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2397, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing and Agriculture,

____________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair

____________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair