STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2416

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 3108

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 S.B. No. 3108 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)  Ban, as of July 1, 2016, permitting for new underground storage tanks within one hundred yards of the shoreline; and

     (2)  Prohibit, as of January 1, 2030, operation of and renewal of a permit for an underground storage tank within one hundred yards of the shoreline.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health and Board of Water Supply of the City and County of Honolulu.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Aloha Petroleum, Ltd.; Hawaii Petroleum Marketers Association; and Par Hawaii.

     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.  Your Committees further find that the inundation of underground storage tanks poses risks to the aquifer as well as coastal water quality and marine ecosystems.

     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 S.B. No. 3108 and recommend that it pass Second Reading 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