STAND. COM. REP. NO. 659

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1219

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1219, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE LANAI WATERSHED,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require:

 

     (1)  That funding for the Lanaihale watershed management plan be provided solely from private sources; and

 

     (2)  The Department of Land and Natural Resources to control and manage implementation of the Lanaihale watershed management plan.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Robbie Alm, Executive Vice President, Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from William J. Aila, Jr., Chairperson, Department of Land and Natural Resources; Jay F. Penniman, Research Specialist/Project Manager, Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project; and ten individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that an estimated sixty-five per cent of Lanai's primary aquifer's recharge comes from fog drip and that fog drip interception by mountain forests significantly increases precipitation.  The loss of forest cover will change precipitation levels and negatively affect the recharge of the island's aquifer.  Accordingly, your Committee finds that execution of a watershed management plan that protects the native forest is necessary for the protection of the fresh water recharge area.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that this measure does not apply to any state funds appropriated to implement the Lanaihale watershed management plan prior to the enactment of the measure;

 

     (2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; 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 Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1219, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1219, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair