STAND. COM. REP. NO. 84

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 591

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Energy and Environment and Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 591 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Hawaii Invasive Species Council for the coordinated management and removal of the albizia trees on Hawaii island and throughout the State.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Office of Environmental Quality Control, Maui Invasive Species Committee, Oahu Invasive Species Committee, Hawaii Farm Bureau, Nature Conservancy, Hawaiian Shores Community Association, Hawaiian Electric Company, and nine individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from one individual.

     Your Committees find that albizia trees are an invasive species that present an increasingly costly threat to the economy, critical infrastructure, and public safety.  The pre-planned removal of each albizia tree costs significantly less than the combined direct and indirect costs of removal if and when it falls into a road, power line, or building.  The Hawaii Invasive Species Council and the Big Island Invasive Species Committee have demonstrated the effectiveness and necessity of a coordinated approach to controlling the growth and spread of albizia trees.  The implementation of this measure will allow the Hawaii Invasive Species Council to continue working toward the management and removal of albizia trees that pose a critical threat to the State.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy and Environment and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 591 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________ LAURA H. THIELEN, Chair

____________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair