STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2355

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2901

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2901 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend or delete any statutes or provisions containing federal requirements that are currently addressed in Hawaii Administrative Rules or otherwise deemed unnecessary.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation and the Hawaii Transportation Association.

     Your Committee finds that serious financial penalties can be incurred when a state does not comply with certain federal motor carrier safety regulations.  Adopting these regulations by reference in administrative rules is expedient and ensures exact compliance.  When placing these regulations in the Hawaii Revised Statutes, there is a possibility for noncompliance to result when numerous legislative measures are drafted and enacted.  To ensure exact compliance and avoid the possibility of a contradiction between rules and statutes, the Department recommends deleting statutes and provisions of the statutes whenever they are addressed in administrative rules or otherwise deemed unnecessary.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  On the recommendation of the Department of Transportation to bring the State into compliance as soon as possible with federal mandates, retaining section 286-202.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and making amendments to subsection (a) to conform to federal regulations; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2901, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2901, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and International Affairs,

____________________________

J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair