STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2750

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2005

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2005, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONSERVATION BANKING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the establishment and operation of conservation banks.

Specifically, this measure:

(1) Authorizes public and private entities to seek approval to operate a conservation bank for the benefit of a proposed species as part of an approved incidental take license and habitat conservation plan;

(2) Establishes requirements for the application to establish and operate a conservation bank;

(3) Establishes procedures for the Board of Land and Natural Resources to approve an application to establish and operate a conservation bank; and

(4) Makes a housekeeping amendment to the Endangered Species Recovery Committee membership to more accurately reflect the federal agency staffing terminology used by the United States Geological Survey.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Division of Forestry and Wildlife of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Earthjustice, Sierra Club of Hawaii, The Nature Conservancy, and Tawhiri Power LLC.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.

Your Committee finds that conservation banks can serve as valuable tools for incidental take permit holders to improve the habitats of plants and animals, and help to preserve Hawaii's many threatened or endangered species.

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. 2005, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair