STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2733

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 2692

       H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2692, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLANNING,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to prepare for a major disaster on the leeward coast of Oahu by requiring the Director of Civil Defense to prepare a disaster preparedness plan for the forty-fourth and forty-fifth House of Representatives districts, and to report to the Legislature for the 2011 Regular Session.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from twenty individuals.  Testimony in opposition was received from one state department.  Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

     Your Committee finds that the leeward coast of Oahu is only accessible by way of Farrington Highway.  Any closure of the highway due to traffic accidents or other incidences can temporarily disrupt the lives of tens of thousands of commuting residents.  Your Committee further finds that, if a major disaster closes the freeway for extended periods of time, a host of problems arise that directly impacts the health, safety, and welfare of several leeward communities.  Developing specific disaster preparedness plans for these communities is an important, but long-term process.  This measure will initiate that process.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2692, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs,

 

 

 

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair