STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3327

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2626

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 2626, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Prohibit the Department of Health from issuing a permit for a new underground storage tank within 100 yards of the shoreline;

     (2)  Allow the Department of Health to issue a permit to repair or replace existing underground storage tanks;

     (3)  Allow permit holders for existing underground storage tanks located within 100 yards of the shoreline to renew their permits; and

     (4)  Beginning January 1, 2045, prohibit operation of and renewal of a permit for an underground storage tank within 100 yards of the shoreline.

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

     Your Committee finds 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.  By prohibiting the operation of and renewal of underground storage tanks within 100 yards of the shoreline beginning January 1, 2045, this measure may complement the renewable portfolio standards under section 269-92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and assure that Hawaii moves beyond its dependence on imported fuels and continues to grow a local renewable energy industry.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that a permit may be issued by the Department of Health for the purposes of repairing or replacing an existing underground storage tank within 100 yards of the shoreline;

     (2)  Inserting language that, beginning January 1, 2020, requires the Department of Health to assist owners of underground storage tanks located within 100 yards of the shoreline to relocate or phase out use of such underground storage tanks by 2045;

     (3)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2016; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2626, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2626, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair