STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2174
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 2068
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2022
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2068 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAND MANAGEMENT,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Repeal requirements for transfers of certain public lands classified for agricultural use by the Department of Land and Natural resources to receive approval from both the Board of Agriculture and the Board of Land and Natural Resources prior to transfers to the Department of Agriculture;
(2) Require the Department of Agriculture to manage and accept the transfer of certain qualifying non-conservation, non-agricultural park lands; and
(3) Require the Department of Agriculture to inquire with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, prior to offering a lease, to determine any easements required for the Department of Land and Natural Resources to access its landlocked forest reserves or other Department of Land and Natural Resources assets on the lands subject to the lease.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc.; Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii; Kapāpala Ranch; Larry Jefts Farms, LLC; Hawai‘i Farm Bureau; Local Food Coalition; Hawaii Coffee Association; and one individual. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, Our Revolution Hawaii, Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi, and six individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, The Nature Conservancy, and Ulupono Initiative.
Your Committees find that Act 90, Session Laws of Hawaii 2003 (Act 90), was enacted to transfer certain non-agricultural park lands from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to the Department of Agriculture. In 2021, the Act 90 Working Group, established by Act 139, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, determined that lands under the Department of Land and Natural Resources used for the primary purpose of agricultural production should be transferred to the Department of Agriculture following the conditions and procedures set out by Act 90, Session Laws of Hawaii 2003. Despite its intent to foster collaborative working relationships between the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, and lessees of multi-use agricultural lands, lengthy transfer processes have stalled the transfer of lands utilized for the primary purpose of agricultural production.
This measure will allow for the creation of a collaborative working relationship between the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture by repealing requirements for approval from the Board of Land and Natural resources and the Board of Agriculture for certain public lands leased for agricultural use to the Department of Agriculture, with exceptions to easements required by the Department of Land and Natural Resources to access landlocked forest reserves or other assets under the Department of Land and Natural Resources' jurisdiction.
Your
Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Clarifying
that lands classified for agricultural use include all intensive agricultural
use, special livestock use, and pasture use lands;
(4) Providing that designated conservation lands
not in current agricultural use shall remain under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Land and Natural Resources;
(6) Requiring the Department of Agriculture to
inquire with the Department of Land and Natural Resources regarding any
easements required by the Department of Land and Natural Resources to access landlocked
forest reserves or other assets of the Department of Land and Natural resources
subject to the lease;
(7) Deleting
section 5 of this measure, thereby retaining the existing Board of Agriculture rulemaking
requirements, including eligibility requirements for each disposition and
applicant qualifications, to effectuate the purposes of chapter 166E, Hawaii
Revised Statutes;
(8) Deleting
section 7 of this measure, thereby retaining existing statutory language on
lease restrictions, generally;
(9) Deleting
section 8 of this measure, thereby retaining existing statutory language on
disposition of public land leases by negotiation;
(10) Requiring the Department of Land and Natural
Resources to seek approval from the Board of Land and Natural Resources and the
Board of Agriculture prior to the removal of any land designated for pasture
leases for reforestation or other public purposes;
(11) Requiring adequate notice of no less than one
year to the then-current lessee or permittee, if withdrawal is approved by both
boards;
(12) Clarifying that the Department of Land and
Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife's funded action plan for
reforestation purposes shall be realistic; and
(13) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments
for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2068, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2068, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment,
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________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair |
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