STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2993

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2626

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Economic Development, Environment, and Technology and Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 2626, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Prohibit the permitting of new underground storage tanks within 100 yards of the shoreline; and

     (2)  Allow permit holders with existing underground storage tanks located within 100 yards of the shoreline to renew their permits.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, City and County of Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, and one individual.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from Par Hawaii and Hawaii Petroleum Marketers Association.

     Your Committees find that climate change is real and that sea level rise poses a threat to Hawaii's quality of life.  Immediate preparation for sea level rise will protect natural resources and save money in the long term.  The inundation of underground storage tanks poses risks to the aquifer as well as coastal water quality and marine ecosystems.

     Your Committees further find that Act 97, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, updates and extends Hawaii's Clean Energy Initiative by, among other things, establishing benchmarks for renewable portfolio standards for electric utilities, including establishing a benchmark of 100 percent by December 31, 2045.  By prohibiting the operation of new underground storage tanks within 100 yards of the shoreline beginning January 1, 2045, this measure may complement the renewable portfolio standards set forth in Act 97, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, and assure that Hawaii moves beyond its dependence on imported fuels and continues to grow a local renewable energy industry.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Allowing the Department of Health to issue a new permit for an existing underground storage tank in order to repair or replace an existing underground storage tank; and

     (2)  Prohibiting operation of and renewal of a permit for an underground storage tank within one hundred yards of the shoreline, beginning January 1, 2045.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Economic Development, Environment, and Technology and Water, Land, and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2626, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2626, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Economic Development, Environment, and Technology and Water, Land, and Agriculture,

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair