STAND. COM. REP. NO 181

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1157

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Economic Development and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 1157 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STARLIGHT RESERVE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to change the Starlight Reserve Advisory Committee from a temporary committee to a permanent committee.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Department of Transportation; University of Hawaii System; and Starlight Reserve Advisory Committee.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

     Your Committee finds that the original purpose of establishing the Starlight Reserve Advisory Committee was to develop and help implement a statewide strategy that would reduce nighttime light pollution with the long-term goals of preserving Hawaii's night sky for astronomical studies, protecting endangered species, and reducing nighttime energy consumption.  Achievement of these goals requires the ongoing and coordinated efforts of the institutions represented on the Starlight Reserve Advisory Committee.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Amending the Starlight Reserve Advisory Committee's membership to include the Administrator of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs or the Administrator's designee, rather than the Chairperson of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs or the Chairperson's designee; and

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Development and Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1157, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1157, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development and Technology,

____________________________

GLENN WAKAI, Chair