STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2619

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2019

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2019 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE TRANSFER OF NON-AGRICULTURAL PARK LANDS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to accept the transfer of and manage certain qualifying non-agricultural park lands;

(2) Authorize the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to request information related to easements before any transfer of certain qualifying non-agricultural park lands; and

(3) Require the Department of Land and Natural Resources to obtain approval from the Board of Land and Natural Resources and Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity before pasture lands are removed for reforestation or other public purposes.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau; Maui Cattlemen; Boteilho Hawaiʻi Enterprises; Hilo County Farm Bureau; Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc.; Maui County Farm Bureau; Larry Jefts Farms, LLC; Thompson Ranch; Kapapala Ranch; and eight individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from The Nature Conservancy, Hawaiʻi and Palmyra.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity and Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committees find that Act 90, Session Laws of Hawaii 2003 (Act 90), authorized the transfer of certain non‑agricultural park lands from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to support ranchers in the State. Although Act 90 was enacted more than twenty years ago, the transfer of lands from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity has not been completed. This measure will facilitate the transfer of non-agricultural park lands from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to support agricultural production in the State.

Your Committees have 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.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2019, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2019, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair