REPORT TITLE: 
LESA


DESCRIPTION:
Create a temporary State of Hawaii agricultural lands commission
to determine the best way to fulfill constitutional mandate to
conserve bills, and protect agricultural lands.  (HB2424 HD2)


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2424
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 2
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL LANDS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Article XI, section 3 of the Hawaii State
 
 2 Constitution provides that:
 
 3          "The State shall conserve and protect agricultural
 
 4          lands, promote diversified agriculture, increase
 
 5          agricultural self-sufficiency and assure the
 
 6          availability of agriculturally suitable lands.  The
 
 7          legislature shall provide standards and criteria to
 
 8          accomplish the foregoing."
 
 9      The legislature finds that in 1986, the State of Hawaii land
 
10 evaluation and site assessment (LESA) commission submitted its
 
11 final report to the legislature in accordance with Act 273,
 
12 Session Laws of Hawaii 1983, in an effort to implement this
 
13 constitutional provision.  The report presented the commission's
 
14 findings, conclusions, and recommendations concerning:
 
15      (1)  The development of the initial inventory of the State's
 
16           "important agricultural lands" (IAL);
 
17      (2)  A classification system to identify these lands; and
 

 
 
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 1      (3)  A process to review requests for a change in
 
 2           designation of specific parcels from IAL to urban or to
 
 3           other uses.
 
 4      The report also provided an implementation framework and
 
 5 recommended amendments to existing state law to execute the
 
 6 proposed LESA system.  Since 1986, many bills have been
 
 7 introduced that attempted to implement the LESA system.  For
 
 8 various reasons, none of these bills has succeeded in meeting all
 
 9 the needs and objectives of the interested parties that are
 
10 affected by these land use bills.  LESA bills, in their effort to
 
11 protect agricultural lands, traditionally have included
 
12 significant changes to chapter 205, Hawaii's land use law.
 
13 These include open space preservation, urban and rural
 
14 settlements patterns, natural resources, infrastructure planning
 
15 and economic development.
 
16      The legislature finds that the difficulty in enacting LESA
 
17 legislation directly relates to the myriad planning issues that
 
18 have been included under the umbrella of preserving important
 
19 agricultural land.  These different issues need to be carefully
 
20 identified and addressed on their own merits.  Some may be
 
21 inappropriate for resolution in an agricultural lands bill.
 
22      Additionally, since the completion of the LESA commission
 
23 report in 1986, the profile of Hawaii's agricultural lands has
 
24 changed dramatically.  Such events include:
 

 
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 1      (1)  The dramatic industry shift from a plantation-type
 
 2           system with an emphasis on sugarcane production to the
 
 3           current focus on small scale and diversified
 
 4           agriculture;
 
 5      (2)  The abundance of agricultural land available for
 
 6           agricultural operations on all of the islands due to
 
 7           the closing of many plantations; and
 
 8      (3)  The relative success of the agricultural industry
 
 9           despite Hawaii's overall economic decline during the
 
10           1990s.
 
11      In the face of changing times and circumstances, many of
 
12 which have been positive for diversified agriculture, the
 
13 legislature finds that there is a real need to reassess the
 
14 appropriate mechanism by which to fulfill the intent and purpose
 
15 of article XI, section 3 of the Hawaii State Constitution, which
 
16 seeks to conserve and protect agricultural lands.
 
17      The purpose of this Act is to create a new commission to
 
18 reassess the 1986 LESA approach to identifying important
 
19 agricultural lands by:
 
20      (1)  Analyzing the current agricultural industry;
 
21      (2)  Reviewing the 1986 LESA report; and
 
22      (3)  Identifying relevant land use issues.
 

 
 
 
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 1 Based upon this work, the commission shall recommend to the
 
 2 legislature a framework to fulfill the constitutional mandate. 
 
 3      SECTION 2.  (a)  There is established, within the office of
 
 4 the legislative reference bureau for administrative purposes, the
 
 5 State of Hawaii land evaluation and site assessment commission
 
 6 comprised of fifteen voting members as follows:
 
 7      (1)  The chairperson of the board of agriculture;
 
 8      (2)  The chairperson of the board of land and natural
 
 9           resources;
 
10      (3)  The director of the office of planning under the
 
11           department of business, economic development, and
 
12           tourism;
 
13      (4)  The dean of the college of tropical agriculture and
 
14           human resources;
 
15      (5)  The planning directors of each of the four counties;
 
16           and
 
17      (6)  Seven representatives, one member from each of the
 
18           following:
 
19           (A)  Land Use Research Foundation;
 
20           (B)  Office of Hawaiian affairs;
 
21           (C)  The Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation;
 
22           (D)  The International Longshore and Warehouse Union;
 
23           (E)  Hawaii's Thousand Friends;
 

 
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 1           (F)  Local chapter of American Planning Association;
 
 2                and
 
 3           (G)  The Nature Conservancy.
 
 4      The chairperson of the board of agriculture shall be the
 
 5 chairperson of the commission.  Any vacancy on the commission
 
 6 shall be filled in the same manner in which the original position
 
 7 was filled.  The members shall receive no compensation for their
 
 8 services, but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in
 
 9 the performance of their duties.
 
10      (b)  The commission shall:
 
11      (1)  Analyze the current state of the agricultural industry
 
12           in Hawaii so as to determine its needs and how to best
 
13           meet these needs;
 
14      (2)  Inventory agricultural lands in the State and determine
 
15           if there is sufficient suitable and available land to
 
16           ensure the viability of the agriculture industry;
 
17      (3)  Compare the island by island land and crop data
 
18           contained in the 1986 LESA Report to current data;
 
19      (4)  Identify and analyze the different land use issues that
 
20           have been impacted by LESA legislation:
 
21           (A)  Separately analyze each land use issue; and
 
22           (B)  Recommend options for addressing each issue,
 
23                including whether it can or should be addressed in
 
24                agricultural lands legislation;
 

 
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 1      (5)  Recommend incentives for landowners to keep their lands
 
 2           in agricultural production;
 
 3      (6)  Re-examine chapter 171, Hawaii Revised Statutes, with
 
 4           specific focus on addressing the issue of highest and
 
 5           best use for the beneficiaries of the public land
 
 6           trust; 
 
 7      (7)  Recommend ways in which the State can promote and
 
 8           ensure agricultural lease stability on public lands;
 
 9           and
 
10      (8)  Identify state agricultural lands that meet the
 
11           criteria for unique or other important agricultural
 
12           land that, in addition, are of statewide importance for
 
13           the preservation and perpetuation of native Hawaiian
 
14           culture.  The lands in this class are deemed important
 
15           for the production of crops of cultural significance to
 
16           native Hawaiians and therefore qualify for an exemption
 
17           from the requirements of chapter 171, Hawaii Revised
 
18           Statutes.
 
19      After completing the work listed above, the commission shall
 
20 recommend a framework by which to identify important agricultural
 
21 lands to the legislature.
 
22      (c)  The commission shall invite the participation of the
 
23 general public.  The commission shall conduct informational
 

 
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 1 meetings hearings on each island prior to the submission of the
 
 2 commission's report.
 
 3      SECTION 3.  Twenty days prior to the convening of the
 
 4 regular session of 2001, the commission shall submit to the
 
 5 legislature a report of its findings and recommendations.  The
 
 6 commission shall cease to exist on June 30, 2001.
 
 7      SECTION 4.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 8 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much
 
 9 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 for the
 
10 commission to carry out the purposes of this Act.
 
11      The sum appropriated shall be expended by the legislative
 
12 reference bureau for the purposes of this Act.
 
13      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval;
 
14 except that section 4 shall take effect on July 1, 2000.