STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2392

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2953

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, Hawaiian Affairs, and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2953 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATE RESOURCES ON HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require that if geothermal resources that are located on lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands are mined, twenty percent of all royalties received by the State shall be paid to the county in which the geothermal resources are located, and twenty percent shall be paid to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies and one individual.

     Your Committees find that although geothermal development in Hawaii has contributed to greater energy diversification of the State, the cultural, health, and environmental concerns related to the development of geothermal energy must be carefully and properly addressed and managed.

     Your Committees find that this measure provides a fair allocation of geothermal mining royalties while providing a needed source of revenue to support the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' programs including homestead lot development, loans, and rehabilitation programs, and administration expenses to support these programs.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land, Hawaiian Affairs, and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2953 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land, Hawaiian Affairs, and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

_____________________________ MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair	____________________________ MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair
	____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair