STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2780

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2143

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2143 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate moneys to the Wildfire Management Branch of the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife to award grants to nonprofit organizations for wildfire preparedness and mitigation programming.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii Forest Industry Association, and Maui Chamber of Commerce.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife is the primary responder for wildland fires across 1,368,002 acres of the State, accounting for twenty-six per cent of the land area in Hawaii. The Division is also tasked with coordinating prevention outreach and planning efforts, including assisting communities in developing Community Wildfire Protection Plans and applying for federal grant programs. Your Committee further finds that the Division does not have the staffing capacity or resources to adequately provide programming for all the State's wildfire preparedness needs, and instead partners with nonprofit organizations to fill this gap. These nonprofit partners are often outcompeted by larger, national nonprofit organizations for federal grants, and therefore rely on funding from the State to provide education, training, and support for communities and large landowners to manage fire risks through mitigation plans and projects.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the appropriation from $500,000 to an unspecified amount; and

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2143, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2143, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair