STAND. COM. REP. NO. 564

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1368

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 1368 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AIRFIELDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit the eviction of any tenant of Kawaihapai Airfield so long as that tenant remains in good standing; and

(2) Require the Department of Transportation to cooperate with any private entity performing an economic feasibility study of Kawaihapai Airfield.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from SaveDillinghamAirfield.org; North Shore Oahu Flight School; United States Parachute Association; Hawaiian Astronomical Society; Soaring Society of America, Inc.; Uncomfortably Comfortable LLC; Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; Above & Beyond Hawaii; Pacific Skydiving Center; Skymax LLC; Everest Innovation Lab LLC; Shoreline Conservation Initiative; Kawaihapai Ohana; North Shore Aviation; and three hundred individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Transportation and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that Kawaihapai Airfield, also known as Dillingham Airfield, is a vital economic and tourism contributor to the economy of Oahu's north shore. Small business tenants at the airfield generate over $12,000,000 in yearly revenues and employ over one hundred and thirty people. Currently the Department of Transportation (DOT) leases the airfield from the United States Department of the Army. The original DOT lease runs until July 5, 2024, however the lease is now set to terminate on June 30, 2021, due to an early termination provision.

Your Committee notes the myriad of complex issues with Kawaihapai Airfield raised in both the written and oral testimony. As such, your Committee finds it prudent to form a task force to address these issues and work towards a solution with input from all parties.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting its contents and inserting language to create the Kawaihapai Airfield Revitalization Task Force to:

(A) Address the issues necessary to keep Kawaihapai Airfield open and operating safely, provided that plans to resolve all pending issues can be agreed upon by June 30, 2021, and subsequently executed; and

(B) Submit a report to the Legislature prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2022; and

(2) 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 Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1368, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1368, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

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

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair