STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2471

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2133

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Hawaiian Affairs, Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2133 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HAWAIIAN CULTURAL RESERVES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the counties to establish a framework for the establishment of Hawaiian cultural reserves as a condition of approval for subdivisions or certain condominium property regimes on agricultural and rural lands.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Carmen Hulu Lindsey, Trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Hawaiian Affairs Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Ho‘omanapono Political Action Committee; Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language; Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu; Ho‘omana Pono, LLC; We Are One, Inc.; and thirty-six individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies and one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committees find that Native Hawaiians struggle to perpetuate their traditional practices, particularly the practices that depend on the ‘aina. Land use and development, specifically residential development and industrial uses on agricultural and rural lands, have prevented Native Hawaiians from using these lands for traditional Hawaiian practices, cutting off access to essential resources that have served as the foundation of Native Hawaiian culture. Your Committees find that these lands are instrumental to the preservation and perpetuation of traditional Hawaiian practices and must be protected so that the Native Hawaiian community can be assured that traditional practices are respected in the State. Your Committees recognize the concern regarding the permitting process of setting aside land for Hawaiian cultural reserves without just compensation to the landowner and have requested the concerned party and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to collaborate to draft amendments to ensure that this measure may protect the practices of Native Hawaiians.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language that requires counties, when developing ordinances or supplemental rules, to consider how the dedication of land for Hawaiian cultural reserves will impact the new subdivision or condominium property regime and that the consideration shall also account for the way previous development or changes to land access have impacted Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices; and

(2) 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 Hawaiian Affairs, Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2133, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2133, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Hawaiian Affairs, Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, and Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair	________________________________ MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair
	________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair