STAND. COM. REP. NO.  351

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2017

RE:   H.B. No. 630

      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 Water & Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 630 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DROUGHT MITIGATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Land and Natural Resources for:

     (1)  Drought mitigation projects and measures in each county; and

     (2)  One full-time equivalent permanent planner IV position within the Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM)to update the Hawaii Drought Plan.  

The Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Waiakea Soil and Water Conservation District, Maui County Farm Bureau, Hawaii Farm Bureau, and numerous individuals testified in support of this measure. The Department of Agriculture and Department of Land and Natural Resources supported the intent of this measure.  

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount;

     (2)  Specifying that the funds shall be appropriated from an unspecified special fund rather than the general fund;

     (3)  Adding language that provides that contractors and other third parties who receive funds under this Act may be subject to review and inspection by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Attorney General, or the Auditor;  

     (4)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050; and

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     Should your Committee on Finance decide to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that the appropriation amounts of $4,000,000 for drought mitigation projects and $52,000 for the planner position be re-inserted into this measure.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water & Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 630, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 630, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water & Land,

____________________________

RYAN I. YAMANE, Chair