STAND. COM. REP. NO.924

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 1593

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1593 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require state and county agencies that control the siting and disposing of hazardous materials, store toxins, or release pollutants at their facilities, or issue permits for these kinds of activities to give fair treatment to native Hawaiian and low-income populations.

The intent of this measure is to minimize the likelihood that a native Hawaiian or low-income community will bear a disproportionate share of the adverse environmental consequences, or be denied reasonable access to the environmental benefits, resulting from implementation of a government agency's program or policy.

In addition, this measure requires state and county agencies to:

(1) Identify and address the disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on native Hawaiian and low-income populations;

(2) Evaluate the economic and social effects of proposed actions on the health of native Hawaiian and low-income communities, and mitigate any significant and adverse environmental effects on these communities;

(3) Consider, when determining whether an action will have a "significant effect" on the environment, the:

(A) Composition of an affected area to determine whether there may be disproportionately high and adverse health or environmental effects on native Hawaiian or low-income populations; and

(B) Interrelated cultural, social, occupational, historical, or economic factors that may amplify the natural and physical environmental effects of the proposed actions; and

(4) Avoid the creation of programs, policies, and activities that would have disproportionately high and adverse effects on the health and environment of native Hawaiian and low-income communities.

This measure also requires the Director of Health to analyze information on environmental and human health risks to determine if state and county programs, policies, and activities have disproportionately high and adverse effects on native Hawaiian and low-income populations and establishes:

(1) An Interagency Environmental Justice Working Group to provide guidance to government agencies on criteria for identifying disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on native Hawaiian and low-income populations; and

(2) An Environmental Justice Advisory Committee to provide advice to the Working Group on the development of a framework for integrating socioeconomic programs into strategic and annual planning and management accountability to achieve environmental justice results.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity 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. 1593, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1593, S.D. 1.

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

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair