STAND. COM. REP. NO. 185-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: H.B. No. 2134

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 2134 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COUNTIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the counties to provide for the maintenance of infrastructure for any housing development of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands within sixty days after the appropriate county agency has received a completed application for maintenance request and under certain conditions.

Prior to the hearing on this measure, your Committee posted and made available for public review a proposed H.D. 1, which amends this measure by:

(1) Providing that the transfer of infrastructure maintenance to the counties is also conditioned upon whether the infrastructure is connected or adjacent to infrastructure maintained by the county; and

(2) Amending the definition of "infrastructure" to include culverts, signage, road striping, and traffic calming measures.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one member of the Maui County Council. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands often continues to have the responsibility to maintain infrastructure despite the Department's compliance with county requirements. Your Committee further finds that the counties are uniquely positioned to operate, improve, repair, and maintain infrastructure. Therefore, transferring the responsibility to the counties to maintain the infrastructure, under specified conditions, for any housing development of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands will enable the Department to use its resources to develop homestead lots to meet the needs of beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended, and better focus its efforts on attending to the maintenance and repairs of existing infrastructure under its authority.

Your Committee has amended this measure by adopting the proposed H.D. 1 and further amending the measure by:

(1) Specifying that the transfer of infrastructure maintenance to a county is conditioned upon whether the infrastructure conforms to applicable county standards in effect at the time the infrastructure is turned over to the county;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) 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 Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2134, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2134, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Water & Land.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

____________________________

NADINE K. NAKAMURA, Chair