STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2691

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2078

       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 Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2078 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUEO RESEARCH,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Land and Natural Resources to conduct, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, a two-year breeding ecology study and two-year foraging ecology study on the pueo on Oahu.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; Na Pueo; Dole Food Co. Hawaii; Hawaii Audubon Society; Ho‘omanapono Political Action Committee; Ho‘omana Pono, LLC; O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission; Kanehili Cultural Hui; and twenty-seven individuals. 

 

     Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from one individual.

 

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

 

     Your Committee finds that the pueo, or Hawaiian short-eared owl, is an endemic subspecies of the short-eared owl that has a special place in Hawaii's culture.  Because of the cultural significance and potential ecological benefits of the pueo, it is important to conduct comprehensive studies on the pueo in order to allow researchers to better identify preferred breeding habitats and ensure the continued survivability of the pueo in the State.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the appropriation from $330,063 to an unspecified amount;

 

     (2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

 

     (3)  Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     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 S.B. No. 2078, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2078, S.D. 1.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair