STAND. COM. REP. NO. 313-06

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2006

RE: H.B. No. 2652

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred H.B. No. 2652 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide enhanced protection of Hawaii's natural and cultural resources by appropriating funds to increase the number of positions at the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement by 50 percent, from 124 to 186 positions.

The Conservation Council for Hawaii, The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, and a concerned individual supported this bill. DLNR submitted comments.

Your Committee notes that the existing personnel within DLNR may be required to cover too large an area to be effective. Your Committee also notes that DLNR indicated in its testimony that it has made a separate request for funding in the supplemental budget to pay for contract security guards. By passing this measure, it is the intent of your Committee to continue the discussion regarding how best to improve enforcement at state parks and recreational harbors.

 

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2652 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources,

 

____________________________

EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair