STAND. COM. REP. NO. 227-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2137

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 Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 2137 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO A ONE CALL CENTER,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to create a one call center. The one call center would identify the location of underground installations, including utility and pipeline installations and, by providing this information to excavators, help them avoid damaging these during excavation.

The General Contractors Association of Hawaii, Gas Company, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, and Building Industry Association supported this bill. Hawaiian Electric Company and Verizon Hawaii provided testimony in support and suggested amendments. The Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and the Department of Transportation testified in support of the intent of this bill. The Public Utilities Commission commented and expressed concerns. The City and County of Honolulu Department of Facility Maintenance opposed this measure.

Your Committee notes that the agreement on the intent of this bill, there was little agreement on the specifics, especially the specifics of funding.

Your Committee believes that keeping this bill alive will promote further discussion. Perhaps differences can be resolved, as the bill progresses. However, your Committee does not wish to create the impression that it endorses the current version of the bill. To that end, the effective date has been amended so that the law will only be effective on July 1, 2050, and will be repealed on December 31, 2050.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2137, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2137, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce,

 

____________________________

KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair