STAND. COM. REP. NO.  526

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2015

RE:   H.B. No. 439

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 439 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAND USE PLANNING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the Department of Agriculture to implement and operate the Hawaii One Program that will allow agricultural producers to economically and expeditiously develop conservation plans that will assist them in complying with local grading and grubbing laws and seeking federal Farm Bill funding.

The Hawaii Association of Conservation Districts, Central Maui Soil and Water Conservation District, Ulupono Initiative, Larry Jefts Farms, LLC, Monsanto Hawaii, Oahu Resource Conservation & Development Council, Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc., Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, Maui County Farm Bureau, and several concerned individuals supported this measure.  The Department of Agriculture supported the intent of this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the appropriation amount to an unspecified sum; and

     (2)  Changing its effective date to January 20, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

     Should the Committee on Finance deliberate this measure further, your Committee respectfully requests that it consider appropriating $70,000 for each year of fiscal biennium 2015-2017 to the Department of Agriculture to implement and operate the Hawaii One Program that will greatly assist agricultural producers, especially small farmers, in developing conservation plans to avoid compliance penalties and access federal funding programs.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 439, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 439, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture,

____________________________

CLIFT TSUJI, Chair