STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 356
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2021
RE: H.B. No. 1318
H.D. 1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2021
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 1318 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SUSTAINABILITY,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Restructure
the Statewide Sustainability Branch as the Sustainability and Environmental Review
Division;
(2) Transfer the Environmental Council from the Department
of Health to be established in the Office of Planning as the Environmental Advisory
Council;
(3) Amend the ability for an applicant to appeal
nonacceptance of an environmental impact statement from the Environmental Council
to the Environmental Advisory Council; and
(4) Transfer the rights, powers, employees, appropriations, and other personal property from the Office of Environmental Quality Control to the Sustainability and Environmental Review Division.
Your Committee finds that achieving an
abundant and sustainable future for Hawaii will require re-envisioning the
State's institutional framework to better integrate sustainability principles
into the organizational structure of state government, especially in planning,
land use, environmental, and economic development programs. This measure will enhance state government
agencies' ability to implement climate change adaptation measures to increase clean
energy production and address sea level rise.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Inserting findings relating to the importance of improved collaboration of state agencies for achieving the State's sustainability goals;
(2) Establishing the Environmental Advisory Council, including its functions, under chapter 341, Hawaii Revised Statutes, rather than chapter 225M, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(3) Inserting language that codifies the role and responsibilities of the Office of Planning relating to environmental reviews and environmental quality control;
(4) Amending the composition of the Greenhouse Gas Sequestration Task Force by substituting the State Sustainability Coordinator for the Director of the Office of Planning;
(5) Deleting provisions that would have added the Director of the Sustainability and Environmental Review Division to the Statewide Transportation Council;
(6) Repealing provisions relating to the Office of Environmental Quality Control and Environmental Center;
(7) Specifying that the rights, powers, employees, functions, duties, appropriations, and other personal property of the Office of Environmental Quality Control shall be transferred to the Office of Planning, instead of the Sustainability and Environmental Review Division;
(8) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and
(9) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1318, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1318, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection,
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____________________________ NICOLE E. LOWEN, Chair |
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