STAND. COM. REP. NO. 813-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 643

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 643, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BIOPROSPECTING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to take the first steps in acknowledging that the State has a trust obligation to ensure the preservation and sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits of Hawaii's biological resources.

This bill:

(1) Prohibits the sale or transfer of the biological diversity and the biological resources on trust lands, except as it applies to certain activities of the University of Hawaii (UH);

(2) Establishes a temporary Bioprospecting Advisory Commission (Commission) within the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) to identify issues and policies for the Legislature; and

(3) Appropriates an unspecified sum for the Commission to fulfill its mandate.

The Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women and an individual testified in support of this measure. The Hawaii Audubon Society supported this bill with amendments. Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, supported the intent of this bill with amendments. The Oahu Council of Hawaiian Civic Clubs opposed this measure.

For purposes of receiving public comment on proposed amendments to this measure, your Committee circulated and made available for public review a proposed draft for consideration. UH and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation supported this proposed draft. OHA also supported this draft with amendments. The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT), Department of Agriculture (DOA), and an individual offered comments.

Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this bill by deleting its substance and inserting the substance of the proposed draft with additional amendments. As amended, this bill differs from the Senate draft in the following manner:

(1) The definition of "bioprospecting" applies to resources and substances found within the public lands rather than the ceded land trust;

(2) Definitions of "biological resources" and "public lands" are added, and the definition of "trust lands" is deleted;

(3) The prohibition applies to the exclusive possession or conveyance of the rights, interest, and title to the biological resources from public lands as opposed to the sale or transfer of the biological resources and biological diversity on trust lands;

(4) The exception to the prohibition in item (3) applies to any existing, permitted farming and research operations whose products are neither indigenous nor endemic to the state;

(5) The prohibition in item (3) does not affect any research or prevent the State from entering into joint research or commercial development agreements that:

(a) Protect the State's title to its biological trust resources;

(b) Ensure best practices and bio-safety protocols; and

(c) Contribute to either:

(i) Research and educational opportunities for Hawaii's students and faculty; or

(ii) Hawaii's biotechnology industry;

(6) The State may enter into agreements that advance biotechnology education, the biological sciences, and medicine in the State;

(7) The penalty provision is deleted;

(8) The Commission is placed within DBEDT rather than OHA for administrative purposes;

(9) The membership of the Commission is increased from ten to 15 by adding:

(a) The chairperson of the Board of Agriculture;

(b) The Director of Health;

(c) Two representatives from the scientific community consisting of an ecologist and a geneticist; and

(d) A representative of the Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs;

(10) In identifying and developing issues and policies, the Commission is to include the rights of traditional, indigenous knowledge-holders;

(11) The Commission is to conduct an inventory of current biotechnology research projects and activities;

(12) All Commission meetings are to be subject to chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(13) A savings clause is added; and

(14) The due dates for the interim and final reports are postponed by a year, and the date when the Commission ceases to exist is pushed back two years.

Finally, the purpose section has been rewritten, and technical, nonsubstantive amendments have also been made for clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 643, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 643, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Economic Development and Business Concerns.

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

 

____________________________

EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair