STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1284

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 136

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Water and Land, Energy and Environment, and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.R. No. 136 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE TO ESTABLISH A WORKING GROUP TO DISCUSS STRATEGIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the President of the Senate to establish a working group to discuss strategies for the development and expansion of geothermal energy and technology.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Indigenous Consultants, Innovations Development Group, Pacific Resource Partnership, Hawai‘i Construction Alliance, Hawaii Masons' Union Local 1 & 630, and three individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Island Group of the Sierra Club, Life of the Land, Gaia Yoga Gardens, and numerous individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

     Your Committees find that Hawaii's natural resources, such as geothermal energy, help reduce the State's dependence on imported oil for its energy needs and make the State more self-sufficient.  Geothermal energy in Hawaii has proven to be a reliable, inexhaustible energy source that is nearly emission-free and offers tremendous potential for growth and expansion.

Your Committees further find that the State needs a sound, comprehensive strategy to ensure that geothermal energy is developed in an economically feasible manner that still protects public health, the environment, and cultural rights.  A working group is necessary to discuss strategies for the development and expansion of geothermal energy and technology, including geothermal energy and technology development on the island of Hawaii and the development of a geothermal energy and technology park.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting as members of the working group:

     (A)  The Energy Program Administrator of the Hawaii State Energy Office of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, who shall serve as Chair of the working group instead of the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources;

     (B)  The Director of Health, or the Director's designee;

     (C)  The Director of the Hawaii County Civil Defense, or the Director's designee;

     (D)  A representative of the United States Department of Energy;

     (E)  Two representatives of the geothermal industry, to be selected by the President of the Senate;

     (F)  One member from the affected community in the County of Hawaii, to be selected by the President of the Senate;

     (G)  One representative of the Hawaii Island Labor Alliance; and

     (H)  One representative of the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, to be selected by the Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Hilo;

     (2)  Deleting as members of the working group a Native Hawaiian cultural expert, a private sector business member, and a community member of the County of Hawaii;

     (3)  Adding a request that the President of the Senate make Conference Room 414 in the State Capitol building with its video conferencing capability available to the Geothermal Energy and Technology Working Group to enable Hawaii County members to participate in meetings remotely by video conferencing via computers and web cams; and

     (4)  Amending the list of parties to receive certified copies according to the foregoing.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land, Energy and Environment, and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 136, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 136, S.D. 1.

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

____________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair	____________________________ MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair
	____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair