STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1560

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1580

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1580, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENERGY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to commence the transition to one hundred percent clean ground transportation in Hawaii.

     Specifically, this measure:

(1)  Establishes a Hawaii Clean Ground Transportation Initiative that requires the Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the State Energy Office, to identify a plan to establish the goal of eliminating the use of fossil fuels for ground transportation by the year 2045;

(2)  Requires the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Program of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to design, implement, and administer:

          (A)  A plan to reduce fossil fuel consumption for ground transportation by five percent by the year 2025 and to issue periodic reports establishing additional benchmarks to further reduce fossil fuel consumption for ground transportation; and

          (B)  A plan to achieve the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure by the year 2025; and

(3)  Amends the State Planning Act to conform the planning for state facility systems with the goal of eliminating the use of fossil fuels for ground transportation by the year 2045.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation; Office of Economic Development, County of Kauai; Kanehili Cultural Hui; Ulupono Initiative; Avalon Group, LLC; Blue Planet Foundation; Healthy Climate Communities; Citizens' Climate Lobby, and thirty individuals.

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Hawaii Petroleum Marketers Association; Hawaii Transportation Association; Hawaiian Electric Companies; Island Energy Services; Hawaii Energy Policy Forum; Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers; and Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association.

     While this measure does not establish a mandate for one hundred percent fossil fuel ground transportation, your Committee finds that unlike the State's 2045 renewable energy goal, the measure does provide planning guidance for state facilities and state facility systems to accommodate a future where the ground transportation sector consists entirely of vehicles powered by renewable energy.

Your Committee further finds that amending the portions of the State Planning Act applicable to state facility systems, including public infrastructure, to enable a fossil fuel-free ground transportation sector by the year 2045 will help to align the State's transportation energy goals with the existing goal of one hundred percent renewable energy by the year 2045.  This will enable a more holistic approach to support renewable energy in the State.

Your Committee believes that establishing a 2025 target year for measurable reductions that is separate from, but consistent with, the year 2045 planning goal, will provide a significant intermediate step leading to the ultimate elimination of fossil fuel consumption for ground transportation.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Requiring the Department of Transportation, in soliciting the input of stakeholders regarding the Hawaii Clean Ground Initiative, to obtain input from ground transportation fuel providers;  

(2)  Deleting the requirement for the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Program to design, implement, and administer a plan to achieve the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure;

(3)  Authorizing the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Program to exclude new target benchmarks for the reduction of fossil fuel consumption in ground transportation if the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism determines that the target benchmarks cannot be met in a manner that is beneficial to the economy of Hawaii, or due to technological limitations or other barriers that preclude clean ground transportation alternatives;

(4)  Requiring that the periodic reports by the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Program regarding new benchmarks to reduce fossil fuel consumption for ground transportation specifically include a request for an appropriation for analyses to develop new benchmarks for the next report;

(5)  Amending the State Planning Act to require that planning for state facilities with regard to transportation and energy be directed towards eliminating, by the year 2045, Hawaii's dependence on imported fossil fuels for ground transportation and electrical generation; and

(6)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1580, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1580, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair