STAND. COM. REP. NO.  304

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2017

RE:   H.B. No. 1579

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Economic Development & Business, to which was referred H.B. No. 1579 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENERGY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to promote the use of clean, renewable energy sources by authorizing the issuance of special facility revenue bonds to the Hawaii High Technology Development Corporation for the purposes of constructing an electrolysis hydrogen production, storage, and dispensing facility to be managed by the Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, High Technology Development Corporation, Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association, and Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.  The Department of Budget and Finance provided comments on this measure.

     Your Committee finds that hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles are powered by a fuel cell that converts hydrogen gas and oxygen into electricity.  Because these vehicles are zero emission vehicles, they can help the State fulfill the goals of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative to reduce fossil fuel use in the ground transportation sector by forty per cent through the use of renewable fuels and thirty per cent by efficiencies by 2030.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for purposes of style, clarity, and consistency; and

     (2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2038, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Development & Business that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1579, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1579, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development & Business,

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair