STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1361

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1182

H.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 1182, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Agriculture for the preparation of an environmental impact statement for lessees to drill non-potable water wells on individual parcels at Panaewa Agricultural Park, Hawaii island.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Agriculture.

Your Committees find that an affordable and reliable water source for irrigation is a basic requirement of sustainable agriculture. However, your Committees find that access to reliable water remains a challenge for many farmers, as the current law requires a time-consuming and often cost-prohibitive environmental impact statement to be prepared before a farmer can drill for non-potable water on their land. Your Committees further find that subsidizing the cost of an environmental impact statement for Panaewa farmers would not only support the individual farms, but consumers of agricultural products throughout the State. Therefore, this measure will help subsidize Panaewa farmers and additionally support the State's general effort to meet its self-sustainability goals.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1182, H.D. 2, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Water and Land,

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair