STAND

 

STAND. COM. REP. 2416

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 3052

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 3052 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL LANDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish the policies and procedures for identifying and managing important agricultural lands; direct the Agribusiness Development Corporation to convene a task force to develop incentives for important agricultural lands; and appropriate funds for the counties and the Agribusiness Development Corporation to implement the measure.

Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu and the Planning Department of the County of Hawaii. The Department of Land and Natural Resources, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Hawaiian Marine Enterprises submitted comments on the measure.

Your Committee finds that there is a compelling need to fulfill the constitutional mandate to identify and protect important agricultural lands in the State. As an irreplaceable resource that is threatened by urbanization, agricultural lands must be preserved to ensure the future of agriculture in Hawaii. Your Committee finds that this measure provides the most comprehensive approach to meet those responsibilities. This measure and Senate Bill No. 3051 contain a number of provisions regarding the identification of important agricultural lands that are similar to those proposed by the Agricultural Working Group. Your Committee believes that the issues presented in both measures would be best addressed by combining the two measures.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by inserting language from Senate Bill No. 3051 that:

(1) Provides the Land Use Commission with independent authority to identify and map important agricultural lands;

(2) Reserves the authority to amend the district boundaries for important agricultural lands of any size to the Land Use Commission; and

(3) Allows agricultural tourism and holiday- or agriculture-related special event activities on agricultural district lands.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3052, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3052, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture,

		____________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair