STAND. COM. REP. NO. 141-06

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2006

RE: H.B. No. 2271

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources and Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 2271 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to clarify the role of the Department of Agriculture (DOA) in carrying out its responsibility of managing certain agriculturally classified public lands under Chapter 166E, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), by authorizing DOA, subject to certain restrictions, to:

(1) Directly dispose of public lands for agricultural or aquacultural purposes;

(2) Plan, develop, and manage certain non-agricultural park lands; and

(3) Negotiate leases for agricultural purposes,

without the prior approval of the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR). Further, the bill:

(1) Requires BLNR to establish eligibility requirements for each disposition; and

(2) Sets forth the rights and responsibilities of an

institutional lender that holds a security interest in leased lands under Chapter 166E, HRS.

DOA and the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center testified in support of this bill. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs opposed this measure.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2271 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

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

 

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FELIPE P. ABINSAY, JR., Chair

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EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair