STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3067

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1974

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 1974, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to transfer funds from the natural area reserve fund to the firefighter's contingency fund to be expended to upgrade firefighting equipment to be used jointly by the State and counties.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Hawaii State Fire Council, Honolulu Fire Department of the City and County of Honolulu, and Hawai‘i Fire Department of the County of Hawai‘i.

Your Committee finds that the Division of Forestry and Wildlife of the Department of Land and Natural Resources is the primary responder for wildland fires across 1,368,002 acres of the State's forested watersheds and supports federal and county responders on the remaining area of the State. The Division's fire and emergency response requires specialized equipment and resources to modernize the Division's fleet of response vehicles and equipment to ensure timely response to wildfires. State crews currently rely on outdated vehicles, some of which are on loan from federal agencies, that incur costly repairs and have broken down while crews were en route to fires. By transferring funds, this measure will allow the Division to timely respond to fires and assist counties during natural disasters, such as hurricanes and lava flows.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting the statutory references for the natural area reserve fund and firefighter's contingency fund;

(2) Specifying the amount of $1,000,000 to be transferred from the natural area reserve fund to the firefighter's contingency fund;

(3) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2018; and

(4) 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 Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1974, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1974, 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 Water and Land,

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair