STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2034

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2573

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2573 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NUTRIENT CYCLING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish and make an appropriation for a regional nutrient cycling pilot program on Maui and require reporting on the efficacy of the pilot project.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture; Hawai‘i Center for Food Safety; Hawaii Farmers Union United; We Are One, Inc.; and eight individuals.

Your Committee finds that nutrient cycling fosters agricultural production by preventing nutrients from running off from farmland directly into aquifers and shorelines. Nutrient cycling puts end products back into the land-based food chain instead of generating waste or causing pollution, as with food waste. Your Committee further finds that nutrient cycling lowers agricultural production costs, increases yields, reduces waste in streams, and leaves the soil in revitalized condition. Your Committee also finds that a regional nutrient cycling center in Hawaii, particularly on Maui, would promote environmental, economic, and social benefits for the State along with food and energy security, while minimizing the interisland transfer of waste streams and reducing the likelihood of transporting invasive species.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2573 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Environment,

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MIKE GABBARD, Chair