STAND. COM. REP. NO. 384

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1066

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 1066 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FRESH WATER SECURITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish within the Department of Land and Natural Resources a water security working group to study and recommend priority capital improvement projects for legislative consideration that leverage public-private investment to increase Hawaii's water security.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Ulupono Initiative, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that over a century ago, Hawaii's plantation agricultural enterprises supported and created water infrastructure. Your Committee further finds that while those historic investments established the water infrastructure that is used today, the industry has since left the State along with the money necessary to maintain it. Your Committee also finds that new and innovative investment partnerships and community engagement are needed to mobilize large-scale investment in Hawaii's fresh water security. This will require partners from multiple sectors, including the county, state, and federal governments, as well as private philanthropic and corporate entities, to work together to leverage funds and provide matching opportunities. Therefore, this measure establishes within the Department of Land and Natural Resources a water security working group to study and recommend priority capital improvement projects for legislative consideration that leverage public-private investment to increase Hawaii's water security.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring the Department of Land and Natural Resources to include in its study and report to the Legislature funding and financing strategies for each recommended project;

(2) Adding to the working group the Administrator of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, or Administrator's designee, and the Deputy Director of the Department of Health, or Deputy Director's designee;

(3) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(4) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(5) 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 Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1066, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1066, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair