STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1382-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: S.B. No. 2056

S.D. 1

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 Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 2056, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SOIL CLASSIFICATIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require and appropriate funds for the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to conduct a study of the suitability of soil classification systems, including the soil overall (master) productivity rating system and detailed land classification of the Land Study Bureau, for the regulation of agricultural lands by the State and counties.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Hawaii State Energy Office, Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, University of Hawai‘i System, Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hawaii's Thousand Friends. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance and Hawaii Farmers Union United.

Your Committee finds that there has not been a comprehensive soil study or agricultural soil mapping for fifty years. The first and only statewide soil mapping, classification, and characterization study, conducted by the Land Study Bureau of the University of Hawaii from 1965 to 1972, remains the master reference for the regulation of lands in the agricultural district by the State and counties and was based on activities such as plantation sugar cane and pineapple production. Your Committee further finds that factors other than soil quality, such as rainfall, wind strength, temperature, humidity, and availability of irrigation, are also important determinants of the suitability of particular types of agriculture on certain lands. The study proposed by this measure could examine factors other than soil that would also be important to consider in the regulation of agricultural lands.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to conduct the study in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and Land Use Commission; and

(2) 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 Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2056, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2056, S.D. 1, H.D. 1.

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

____________________________

MARK J. HASHEM, Chair