STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2136

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2801

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Energy and Environment and Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2801 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CERTIFICATION OF GAS TANKLESS WATER HEATERS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to condition the acceptance of a variance from the mandatory solar water heating requirement for single-family dwellings for a demand water heater device upon certification of the demand water heater by a North American certification organization, including the Canadian Standards Association International; Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute; or Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association Certification Program.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and Hawaii Solar Energy Association.

     Your Committees find that certification requirements for the gas tankless, on-demand water heater option for a solar water heating system variance application should be revised; specifically, only gas tankless, on-demand water heaters that are certified by a North American certification organization should be eligible for the variance, for quality assurance and consumer protection purposes.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy and Environment and Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2801 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy and Environment and Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing,

____________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

____________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair