STAND. COM. REP. NO. 531

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1178

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Water and Land and Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1178 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR HE‘EIA NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to maintain the initial staff necessary to develop and manage He‘eia estuary.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Office of Planning, University of Hawai‘i System, University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, Nature Conservancy Hawaii, Ko‘olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club, Kahalu‘u Neighborhood Board No. 29, Kaneohe Neighborhood Board Environment Committee, Ko‘olau Foundation, and twenty-five individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Community Development Authority and three individuals.

     Your Committees find that the State has coordinated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to nominate He‘eia estuary as a National Estuarine Research Reserve.  The site, located on Oahu's windward shore, includes He‘eia state park, He‘eia fishpond, and the He‘eia community development district, as well as marine waters with patch and fringing reefs and Moku o Lo‘e (Coconut Island).  In 2012, the Office of Planning was designated as the lead agency to coordinate the site selection for a Hawai‘i site and nomination process for the He‘eia site to be designated as a National Estuarine Research Reserve.  In 2014, He‘eia was officially nominated as a Reserve to support NOAA's policy to encourage expansion of the program in unrepresented areas of the country.

     On January 19, 2017, the He‘eia site was officially designated as the twenty-ninth site in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, which enables federal funding to support the implementation of the management plan.

     The University of Hawaii, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, is the lead agency for implementation of the He‘eia National Estuarine Research Reserve System management plan, with partners to include the Hawaii Community Development Authority, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and several community organizations.  Your Committees further find that for the He‘eia Reserve to succeed in its function within the System, funding for initial staffing is essential.  According to federal regulations, the federal government matches state appropriations on a seventy percent (federal) to thirty percent (state) basis.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Updating the purpose section to reflect current information as provided by the Office of Planning;

     (2)  Blanking out the appropriation amount and the allocation of those dollars;

     (3)  Inserting an effective date of March 14, 2092, to encourage further discussion; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1178, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1178, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Higher Education,

________________________________ KAIALI'I KAHELE, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair