STAND. COM. REP. NO. 790

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1310

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1310, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STORMWATER MANAGEMENT,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to encourage the protection of water resources by authorizing each county to establish and charge user fees to create and maintain any stormwater management system or infrastructure.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from The Nature Conservancy, the Hawaii Community Foundation, and two individuals.  Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from one individual.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Hawaii Farm Bureau, the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, and one individual provided comments on the measure.

 

     Your Committee finds that changes in land use from forested areas to urban development and other human uses increase the amount of rain that becomes storm run-off instead of replenishing the State's aquifers.  Your Committee believes that investing in stormwater management systems and infrastructure will result in the retention of rainfall for potable water before it becomes stormwater run-off, which in turn will reduce pollution in streams, wetlands, and near-shore ocean areas.

 

     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. 1310, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair