STAND. COM. REP. NO. 263

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1296

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 1296 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE KAHOOLAWE ISLAND RESERVE COMMISSION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide funds to the Department of Land and Natural Resources for the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission to effectively meet the unique challenges of restoring, preserving, and determining the appropriate uses of the Kahoolawe island reserve for the people of Hawaii and for two positions for the Commission.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission, Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana, Ocean Tourism Coalition, Hawaiian Affairs Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project, and twenty-seven individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies.

Your Committee finds that extensive erosion and other ecological problems and the presence of unexploded ordnance, archaeological and other cultural and historic sites, and native and endangered flora and fauna necessitated a new management regime to effectively meet the unique challenges of restoring, preserving, and determining the appropriate use of Kahoolawe. As a result, the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission was established in 2004 and funded through federal and state sources; however, funding has run low in recent years. Your Committee further finds that the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission is not only restoring the ecological damage on Kahoolawe and protecting its endangered and rare flora and fauna, it is also ensuring that the people of Hawaii who access the Kahoolawe island reserve can do so meaningfully and safely. Therefore, your Committee finds it necessary to provide adequate funding for the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting blank appropriation amounts;

(2) Inserting an effective date of December 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1296, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1296, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

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KAIALI'I KAHELE, Chair