STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2319

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3153

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 Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 3153 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DAM AND APPURTENANCE IMPROVEMENT OR REMOVAL GRANT PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a special fund to receive funds for the Dam and Appurtenance Improvement or Removal Grant Program; and

(2) Appropriate funds for the Dam and Appurtenance Improvement or Removal Grant Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Agribusiness Development Corporation, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau, and Hawaii Crop Improvement Association.

Your Committee finds that many private dam owners do not have the resources to conduct the necessary repairs or removal of their dams, resulting in dams remaining unsafe and continuing to pose a risk to the downstream public in the event of a dam failure. It is in the public's best interest for the Legislature to provide financial assistance to private dam owners because dams provide the public with numerous benefits. Act 134, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, established and appropriated $10,000,000 for a Dam and Appurtenance Improvement or Removal Grant Program to financially assist owners of private dams and appurtenances with maintenance. However, the Department of Land and Natural Resources anticipates that the funds will lapse before it can establish its grant application rules process, returning the funds to the general fund. This measure will resolve this issue by creating a special fund dedicated to the Dam and Appurtenance Improvement or Removal Grant Program.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee notes that the positions for the Dam and Appurtenance Improvement or Removal Program must be recurring for the Department of Land and Natural Resources to have the staffing resources necessary to administer the program.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3153, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3153, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair