CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 118

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2019

RE: H.B. No. 852

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

C.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 852, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII STATE ENERGY OFFICE,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Establish the Hawaii State Energy Office;

(2) Establish the position of Chief Energy Officer of the Hawaii State Energy Office and powers and duties of the Chief Energy Officer;

(3) Repeal statutes establishing the Energy Resources Coordinator position, the Coordinator's powers and duties, and the Renewable Energy Facilitator position;

(4) Appropriate funds for the Hawaii State Energy Office and for expenses and positions for the Office; and

(5) Transfer the rights, powers, functions, and duties of the Energy Resources Coordinator and State Energy Office, including existing civil service employees, to the Hawaii State Energy Office and retaining the employees' civil service status until they leave employment with the Hawaii State Energy Office.

Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

(1) Removing the authorization for the Hawaii State Energy Office to, through a memorandum of understanding, coordinate with and utilize the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation's expertise, personnel, and powers to acquire, use, and dispose of real property and infrastructure;

(2) Amending the allowable uses of the Energy Security Special Fund to authorize funding, to the extent possible, to the climate change mitigation and adaptation commission and the greenhouse gas sequestration task force;

(3) Amending the amount of general funds appropriated or authorized for the operating budget of the Hawaii State Energy Office to $2,818,077 for each year of the 2019-2021 fiscal biennium;

(4) Reducing the temporary position ceiling for the Hawaii State Energy Office by one temporary position;

(5) Clarifying language regarding the transfer of civil service employees to the Hawaii State Energy Office;

(6) Amending the portion of the environmental response, energy, and food security tax to be deposited into the Energy Security Special Fund from 15 cents per barrel to 5 cents per barrel;

(7) Deleting language which would have appropriated funds to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism for the Hawaii State Energy Office;

(8) Appropriating $150,000 out of the Energy Security Special Fund for fiscal year 2019-2020 to be expended by the Hawaii State Energy Office for the purposes of conducting a study of carbon pricing, including whether and how a carbon pricing policy shall be implemented in Hawaii;

(9) Changing its effective date to July 1, 2019; and

(10) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 852, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 852, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

____________________________ GLENN WAKAI Chair	____________________________ NICOLE E. LOWEN Co-Chair
____________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ Co-Chair	____________________________ SYLVIA LUKE Co-Chair