STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1081

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1453

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Agriculture and Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 1453, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE MOLOA‘A WELL PROJECT ON THE ISLAND OF KAUAI,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for acquisition of a one-acre parcel and the planning, design, and construction thereon at Moloa‘a on the Island of Kauai of:

     (1)  A well and alternative energy development to power the well to supplement the existing water resources at Moloa‘a; and

     (2)  An onsite, state-of-the-art post-harvest facility to meet the new standards established by the Food Safety Modernization Act.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, County of Kauai Office of the Mayor, Hawaii Farm Bureau, East Kauai Water Users' Cooperative, G.I.S.T.C. Inc., Moloa‘a Bay Coffee, One Song Farm, and twenty-six individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Farmers Union, Kauai Chapter.

     Your Committees find that the current weather trends across the State indicate a decrease in consistent rainfall, which makes it more difficult for farmers to rely on annual rainfall alone for consistent water for their crops and increases the need for irrigation sources to supplement regular rainfall patterns.  The agricultural cooperative in the Moloa‘a area on the Island of Kauai is struggling to obtain adequate water from the existing well; therefore, your Committees find that a new replacement well is needed.

Additionally, your Committees find that the federal Food Safety Modernization Act has resulted in new rules and regulations that govern the growing, packing, and processing of food across the nation.  These new regulations adversely impact Hawaii's agriculturalists, particularly Hawaii's farmers who generally have small farms and are unable to make the necessary capital investment to bring their facilities in compliance with required standards.  Therefore, your Committees find that a central facility is needed where farmers in the community can have their produce packed and processed and share the costs of complying with the new regulations to help avoid business failures.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting language in section 1 to clarify that the parcel of land to be acquired for the Moloa‘a well and post-harvest facility is to be a suitable, rather than one-acre, parcel; and

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

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1453, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1453, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Water and Land,

________________________________ LAURA H. THIELEN, Chair

________________________________ RUSSELL E. RUDERMAN, Chair