STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1381-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2756

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 2756 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for equipment for the Hawaii Island Branch of the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Kuaʻ Āina Ulu ʻAuamo; Hawaiʻi Ocean Legislative Task Force; The Nature Conservancy Hawaiʻi and Palmyra; and six individuals.

Your Committee finds that the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) of the Department of Land and Resources will be launching a new academy in 2026 and that a significant number of officers will be assigned to the Hawaii Island branch of DOCARE. Your Committee further finds that the Hawaii Island branch is critically short on vehicles and that the new academy will include additional marine officers, necessitating additional marine patrol vessels and equipment. This measure appropriates funds to ensure that the Hawaii Island branch of DOCARE has the equipment needed to operate effectively.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2756, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2756, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection,

____________________________

NICOLE E. LOWEN, Chair