STAND. COM. REP. NO 217

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                

 

RE:    S.B. No. 512

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Agriculture and Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 512 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for the implementation and operation of the Hawaii one program to provide conservation plans online.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Farm Bureau, Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Ulupono Initiative, Hydroponics Alternatives LLC, Oahu Resource Conservation and Development Council, Hawaii Association of Conservation Districts, and five individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture and one individual.

 

     Your Committees find that state coastal zone management law requires farmers who plow land or stockpile compost to obtain grading and stockpiling permits each time they conduct these activities, unless they have a soil and water conservation plan.  Such plans are detailed documents requiring data such as rainfall averages and topography.  Assistance formerly available to farmers via the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service were cut years ago.  Farmers are currently waiting years for technical assistance, which is impeding the ability of the State to increase agricultural production.

     Your Committees further find that the State of Idaho developed an online program for conservation plans called the Idaho One Plan, which is a model for a tool to assist Hawaii farmers in complying with government regulations and will increase productivity on the farm, while saving time and money for all parties involved.  The Idaho program uses existing data to allow farmers to access property-specific rainfall data and other information, enter their proposed farming activities, and then identify the soil and water conservation best management practices for their property.

 

     Your Committees find that conservation plans are an important tool for farmers to use in order to maximize soil retention by implementing best management practices regarding erosion and sediment control.  The Ulupono Initiative granted money in 2013 to partially fund the Hawaii One Program buildout; therefore, an appropriation of $70,000 is required for only one fiscal year to pay for the remaining expenditures.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting language to establish the Hawaii One Plan Steering Committee, similar in nature to the committee established by Idaho in statute, and directing the steering committee to work with the Department of Agriculture on the development and implementation of the Hawaii One Plan;

 

     (2)  Inserting language to deem information provided by a user to the Hawaii One Plan as confidential and exempt from disclosure;

 

     (3)  Amending the purpose section to include the Hawaii One Plan Steering Committee;

 

     (4)  Appropriating funds for only fiscal year 2015-2016; and

 

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

 

     In inserting the language to deem information provided by users to the Hawaii One Plan as confidential and exempt from disclosure, your Committees note their intent that farmers' property-specific information and farm plans be deemed confidential and exempt from disclosure.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 512, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 512, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

 

____________________________

LAURA H. THIELEN, Chair

 

____________________________

RUSSELL E. RUDERMAN, Chair