STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2336

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2977

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 Water and Land, Economic Development, Tourism, and Technology, and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2977 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission to assess the effects of tourism on climate change and publish a report on its findings.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, and one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Office of Planning.

Your Committees find that the buildup of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere is a serious problem. As a result, there is widespread agreement that the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will be insufficient to keep the global average temperature below two degrees centigrade, as human actions have warmed the planet to one degree centigrade over preindustrial levels. Therefore, immediate action is necessary to reduce the effect of climate change on present and future generations.

Your Committees further find that the primary revenue source for Hawaii is the visitor sector, which is composed of several industries, such as service, transportation, and retail trades. By requiring an assessment of the impact the tourism industry has on climate change, this measure will assist in developing initiatives to support the State's sustainability.

Your Committees note the comments submitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Office of Planning that determining the effects of the tourism industry on climate change may be too broad to accurately analyze and report.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission to analyze and categorize the data collected to determine the contribution, if any, that the tourism industry has on greenhouse gas emissions when it is reasonable and cost-effective to do so; and

(2) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land, Economic Development, Tourism, and Technology, and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2977, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2977, 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, Economic Development, Tourism, and Technology, and Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair	________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair
	________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair