HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

155

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

requesting the auditor to investigate and evaluate soil and water conservation districts, conservation plans, and county procedures relating thereto in protecting natural resources.

 

 

WHEREAS, section 180-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), authorizes the creation of soil and water conservation districts (district) in the State; and

WHEREAS, a district is a governmental subdivision and a public body corporate and politic that is administratively tied to the Department of Land and Natural Resources; and

WHEREAS, districts have been created on all islands of the State; and

WHEREAS, land occupiers who lease or hold title to agricultural lands may be elected or appointed district directors with powers to cooperate or enter into agreements with occupiers of land within the district to carry on soil and water control conservation and operations, subject to such conditions as the directors may deem necessary; and

WHEREAS, districts are empowered to develop plans for conservation of soil and water resources, and control and prevention of erosion within the district; and

WHEREAS, conservation plans are discretionary and do not have to be followed by soil and water conservation district land occupiers, including land occupiers who lease state-owned land; and

WHEREAS, section 180C-2(a), HRS, requires county governments, in cooperation with the districts and other appropriate state and federal agencies, to enact ordinances to control soil erosion and sediment; and

WHEREAS, section 180C-2(b)(4), HRS, requires erosion and sediment control ordinances to provide that soil and land use standards shall be deemed met if it can be shown that the land is being managed in accordance with soil conservation practices that are acceptable to the applicable district directors and that a comprehensive conservation program is being actively pursued; and

WHEREAS, counties have adopted grading ordinances that preclude any jurisdiction by county government officials over land that is part of a district; and

WHEREAS, under these county ordinances, districts have been granted authority to make assessments that normally are made by county agencies with professional engineering staff and strict regulatory requirements; and

WHEREAS, neither the Natural Resources Conservation Service nor districts have regulatory power to enforce conservation plans; and

WHEREAS, districts have no professional staff to review conservation plans; and

WHEREAS, districts do not have any regulations concerning their development and use of conservation plans in place of county grading ordinances; and

WHEREAS, notwithstanding that conservation plans are not enforced by any government agency, land owners or state lessees are exempt from normal environmental compliance regulations, including county grading ordinances; and

WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaii Department of Health have recognized that the discretionary nature of conservation plans makes regulatory enforcement difficult; and

WHEREAS, because of the statutory exemptions in chapter 180C, HRS, and the various county ordinances, there is a vacuum in the enforcement of county grading ordinances, resulting in no public agency assuming responsibility for grading and filling on agricultural land that is part of a district; and

WHEREAS, there has never been an evaluation or audit of how districts protect natural resources through the development of conservation plans; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, that the Auditor is requested to:

(1) Investigate and report on the effectiveness of soil and water conservation districts in fulfilling their statutory mandate to protect natural resources;

(2) Investigate whether soil and water conservation districts are the appropriate governmental entities to regulate grading and filling through the conservation plans process;

(3) Evaluate how each county processes and exempts from its local grading ordinances land that is governed by soil and water conservation districts; and

(4) Recommend statutory or regulatory changes that should be made to ensure appropriate regulatory oversight;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2005; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural resources, each soil and water conservation district, and the Mayor of each county of the State.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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