STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1026

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 620

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 620, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE KAHO‘OLAWE ISLAND RESERVE COMMISSION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission to hire full-time personnel to undertake projects that promote water sustainability and photovoltaic powered desalinization on the island of Kaho‘olawe.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission, Department of Planning of the County of Maui, and numerous individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Ka Lāhui Hawaii Political Action Committee, Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies, and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

     Your Committee finds that the island of Kaho‘olawe was of significant cultural and historic importance to the native people of Hawaii.  Your Committee further finds that there are unique challenges to restoring, preserving, and determining the appropriate use of Kaho‘olawe.  Kaho‘olawe still suffers from extensive erosion and other ecological problems, the presence of unexploded ordnance, the existence of archaeological and other cultural and historic sites, and the presence of native and endangered flora and fauna.

     Act 161, Session Laws of Hawaii 1994, established the Kaho‘olawe Reserve Trust Fund, codified as section 6K-9.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to supplement federal funds for the cleanup of unexploded ordnance on Kaho‘olawe.  On May 9, 1994, the management and control of the Kaho‘olawe island reserve was transferred from the United States Navy to the State of Hawaii, with the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission as the state agency designated to oversee the use and restoration of the reserve.  During the past ten years, the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission has been able to develop innovative restoration projects that are effective in the extremely harsh conditions of Kaho‘olawe and will serve as the foundation for the future restoration of the island.

     A fiscal audit of the Kaho‘olawe Rehabilitation Trust Fund performed by the Office of the Auditor in 2013 (Auditor Report No. 13-06) found that the trust fund will be depleted imminently without an infusion of additional monies.

     The Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission's 2026 strategic plan for Kaho‘olawe lays out a pathway for the future use and management of the Kaho‘olawe island reserve.  The strategic plan aims to restore the ecological damage on Kaho‘olawe and protect the endangered and rare flora and fauna, so that the people of Hawaii who visit the Kaho‘olawe island reserve can do so meaningfully and safely.  The strategic plan is entitled "I Ola Kanaloa", or "Life to Kanaloa", and addresses the future restoration, management, and uses of Kaho‘olawe for the State, the people of Hawaii, and a possible future sovereign Native Hawaiian entity.

     Your Committee further finds that without additional funding, the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission will not be able to continue implementation of its 2026 strategic plan.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Amending the purpose of the appropriation to promote water sustainability, photovoltaic powered desalinization, and general operations of the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission on the island of Kaho‘olawe;

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2017; and

     (3)  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 Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 620, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 620, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs,

________________________________

MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair