REPORT TITLE:
Watershed Protection


DESCRIPTION:
Establishes a watershed protection trust fund to fund public and
private watershed management projects benefiting water quality,
water quantity, and general watershed values within designated
watershed areas.  Establishes a review board to identify
watershed management areas.  Assesses the county water agencies
and private water systems a fee based on the consumption of water
for domestic purposes at a rate of not more than ___ cents per
one thousand gallons.  (HB2835 HD2)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2835
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 WATERSHED PROTECTION.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  Chapter 174C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and
 
 3 to read as follows:
 
 4                               "PART
 
 5                  WATERSHED PROTECTION TRUST FUND
 
 6      §174C-A  Findings and purpose.  The legislature finds that
 
 7 Hawaii's forests function as critical watersheds and are the
 
 8 primary source of fresh water for the islands.  Hawaii's native
 
 9 forests in particular have evolved into efficient ecosystems that
 
10 capture and store appreciably more water than any other natural
 
11 milieu.  The forested watersheds, both native and non-native, are
 
12 vital recharge areas for Hawaii's underground aquifers and a
 
13 dependable source of clean water for its streams.
 
14      The legislature finds that the relationship of Hawaii's
 
15 forested uplands to a dependable supply of clean fresh water was
 
16 recognized over a century ago.  During that period, public and
 
17 private interests recognized that years of extensive cattle
 
18 grazing and other land use practices contributed significantly to
 
19 the degradation of the forests.  Public and private concerns
 

 
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 1 about water supply and quality were the impetus for placing the
 
 2 forests into reserves and undertaking massive reforestation at
 
 3 the turn of the century.  The legislature finds that since then,
 
 4 public and private investment in watershed protection and
 
 5 management has increasingly diminished and, once again, our
 
 6 forested watersheds are steadily degrading.  Moreover, over the
 
 7 last one hundred years, Hawaii has lost half of its native
 
 8 forests.
 
 9      The legislature recognizes that fresh water is not an
 
10 infinite resource and that its high quality, quantity, and
 
11 sustainability are essentially linked to the existence of
 
12 forested watersheds.  The legislature finds that there are
 
13 presently approximately two million acres of major watershed
 
14 areas statewide.
 
15      The purpose of this part is to establish a dedicated source
 
16 of funds to protect, preserve, and enhance important watershed
 
17 areas as an essential and sustainable source of fresh water.  The
 
18 legislature finds that the protection, preservation, and
 
19 enhancement of important watershed areas and any appropriations,
 
20 expenditures, and assessment for the purpose of this part are in
 
21 the public interest and of statewide concern and vital to the
 
22 future welfare of the State and its people.
 

 
 
 
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 1      §174C-B  Definitions.  The following terms, wherever used or
 
 2 referred to in this part, shall have the following meanings
 
 3 unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
 
 4      "Board" means the watershed protection trust fund review
 
 5 board.
 
 6      "Trust fund" means the watershed protection trust fund.
 
 7      "Watershed management area" means a non-regulatory
 
 8 designation used to identify a watershed area, on public or
 
 9 private land, that contributes to domestic water supplies and
 
10 where public or private management activities are needed to
 
11 enhance, protect, and manage the vegetative cover and soil,
 
12 retard rapid runoff of storm flows, prevent soil erosion, and
 
13 improve infiltration of water through the soil to optimize or
 
14 recharge the surface and groundwater supplies.
 
15      §174C-C  Watershed protection trust fund; established.(a)
 
16 There is established within the state treasury a watershed
 
17 protection trust fund to be administered by the commission on
 
18 water resource management to implement the purposes of this part.
 
19      (b)  The purpose of the trust fund is to fund public and
 
20 private watershed management projects and activities benefiting
 
21 water quality, water quantity, and general watershed values
 
22 within designated watershed management areas.  The trust fund
 
23 shall be used to fund:
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 2
                                                        
                                                        


 1      (1)  Projects or activities that manage and protect
 
 2           watershed management areas including watershed
 
 3           maintenance and enhancement projects within watershed
 
 4           management areas, including erosion prevention and
 
 5           control, reforestation, and exclusion of stock; and
 
 6      (2)  Water and watershed resources monitoring efforts,
 
 7           including but not limited to stream and rainfall
 
 8           gauging, monitoring of wells and ground-water, and
 
 9           aquatic resources studies.
 
10      (c)  Appropriations, contributions, grants, and donations
 
11 from public and private sources and any other moneys designated
 
12 by law may be deposited into the trust fund.  Interest accrued
 
13 and earnings on the investment of the assets of the trust fund
 
14 shall be credited to and become a part of the trust fund.  Any
 
15 balance in the trust fund at the end of a fiscal year shall be
 
16 carried forward to the next fiscal year.
 
17      (d)  In consultation with and after consideration of the
 
18 recommendations of the watershed protection trust fund review
 
19 board, the commission shall approve watershed management projects
 
20 and activities to be funded by the trust fund based on
 
21 recommendations submitted to the commission by the board.
 
22      (e)  Pursuant to chapter 91, the commission shall adopt
 
23 rules to carry out the purposes of this part.
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 2
                                                        
                                                        


 1      §174C-D  Watershed protection trust fund review board;
 
 2 established.(a)  There is established under the commission on
 
 3 water resource management a watershed protection trust fund
 
 4 review board.  The board shall consist of nine members who shall
 
 5 be appointed in the manner and serve for the term set forth in
 
 6 section 26-34.  Two members shall be persons possessing
 
 7 professional qualifications as evidenced by an academic degree in
 
 8 hydrology or geology.  Two members shall be persons possessing
 
 9 professional qualifications as evidenced by an academic degree in
 
10 fields such as biology, ecology, or forest management.  Each
 
11 county water agency shall appoint a member to the board.  The
 
12 chairperson of the board of land and natural resources or a
 
13 designated representative shall serve as an ex officio voting
 
14 member of the board.
 
15      (b)  The members of the board shall serve without
 
16 compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including
 
17 travel expenses, necessary for performance of their duties.
 
18      §174C-E  Watershed protection trust fund review board;
 
19 powers and duties.  In addition to any other powers and duties
 
20 granted by this part, the board shall:
 
21      (1)  Identify and recommend to the commission watershed
 
22           management areas;
 

 
 
 
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 1      (2)  Develop and recommend to the commission criteria for
 
 2           eligible watershed management projects;
 
 3      (3)  Develop and recommend to the commission procedures and
 
 4           criteria for selecting eligible watershed management
 
 5           projects;
 
 6      (4)  Review watershed management project proposals for
 
 7           funding from the trust fund; and
 
 8      (5)  Recommend to the commission for approval watershed
 
 9           management projects within watershed management areas
 
10           and the amount of funds from the trust fund to allocate
 
11           for the projects."
 
12      SECTION 2.  Chapter 174C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
13 amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated
 
14 and to read as follows:
 
15      "§174C-    Water assessment; powers.  (a)  Notwithstanding
 
16 any law to the contrary, the commission may assess the county
 
17 water agencies and private water systems regulated by the public
 
18 utilities commission to fulfill its mandate to protect the
 
19 state's water resources; provided that the assessment shall be
 
20 based on the consumption of water for domestic purposes at a rate
 
21 of not more than      cents per one thousand gallons.  The
 
22 commission may require the public utilities commission to levy
 
23 the assessment on the public utility companies.  No assessment
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 2
                                                        
                                                        


 1 under this section shall be made on the use of water for non-
 
 2 domestic purposes, including agricultural, industrial, and
 
 3 commercial purposes.
 
 4      (b)  The assessments shall be paid into the watershed
 
 5 protection trust fund established in section 174C-C.
 
 6      (c)  The commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91
 
 7 to carry out the purposes of this section including but not
 
 8 limited to providing for the process and method of establishing
 
 9 the assessment."
 
10      SECTION 3.  In codifying the new part added to chapter 174C,
 
11 Hawaii Revised Statutes, by section 1 of this Act, the revisor of
 
12 statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the
 
13 letters used in the designations of those new sections.
 
14      SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
15      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2001.