STAND. COM. REP. NO 3121

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 80

       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 Water and Land, to which was referred S.R. No. 80 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION URGING THE BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO NOT REISSUE A DIRECT LEASE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOR THE MAUNA KEA SCIENCE RESERVE, REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII BOARD OF REGENTS TO SUBMIT REPORTS AND SUMMARIES OF THE CURRENT LEASES TO THE BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, REQUESTING CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW OR RENEWAL LEASES FOR MAUNA KEA LANDS, AND REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO NOT ISSUE ANY EXECUTIVE ORDER REGARDING THE LEASE OF MAUNA KEA LANDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to urge the Board of Land and Natural Resources to not reissue a direct lease to the University of Hawaii for the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, among other related lease matters.

     Your Committee did not receive any testimony on this measure.

     Prior to a hearing on this measure, your Committee posted and made available for public review a proposed S.D. 1, which expresses legislative support for Hawai‘i's bid to host the 2016 World Conservation Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the proposed S.D. 1 from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, University of Hawai‘i System, Hawai‘i Lodging & Tourism Association, The Nature Conservancy, Pacific Marketing Corporation, Kewalo Marine Lab, Honua Consulting, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Coordinated Group on Alien Pest Species, Enterprise Honolulu, Hawaii 2016 World Conservation Congress Alliance, and six individuals.

     Your Committee finds that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a democratic membership union composed of more than one thousand two hundred government and non‑governmental organizations and almost eleven thousand volunteer scientists in more than one hundred sixty countries.  The IUCN World Conservation Congress convenes every four years.  Attendees and active participants include world leaders, leaders in policy and conservation, scientists, academics, experts in alternative energy, indigenous peoples, the business community, prominent world citizens, and Nobel laureates.

     Your Committee further finds that Hawai‘i is a global leader in sustainability and biocultural conservation.  Hawai‘i actively participates with the IUCN through the leadership of Hawai‘i's seven member organizations -- the Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Polynesian Voyaging Society, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Harold L. Lyon Arboretum, and Kamehameha Schools.

     The Hawai‘i International Union for Conservation of Nature 2016 World Conservation Congress Committee has been working for six years to bring the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress to Hawai‘i.  If the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress were held in Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i would have a priceless opportunity to display its natural and cultural diversity to the world.

     Your Committee notes its concern about the funding mechanism for this Congress.  Testimony indicated that passage of this measure is critically urgent as a prerequisite for final site selection scheduled in May 2014.  If Hawaii is chosen, funding will be obtained primarily through federal agencies, which the State is pursuing, as well as through private entities, which Enterprise Honolulu is pursuing.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by adopting the proposed S.D. 1.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 80, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 80, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

____________________________

MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair