STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1021

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1330

       H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 1330, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DIVISION OF CONSERVATION AND RESOURCES ENFORCEMENT,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to make an appropriation for 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 Nature Conservancy and four individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and two individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

 

     According to testimony of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, in 2009, due to economic decline, the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement's general fund budget was reduced from $1,700,000 to approximately $500,000, a reduction of about seventy percent.  This resulted in the elimination of eighteen positions, reductions in funds for overtime and for current expenses, and the elimination of funding for equipment and motor vehicle replacements.  Seven more positions were abolished in July 2010.  As a result, the Division was left with an operating budget of $540,000 to patrol the lands under the Department's jurisdiction on six islands, which encompasses a geographic area from the top of the mountains to three miles out to sea.  This jurisdiction encompasses nearly 1.3 million acres of state lands and 3 million acres of ocean and coastal waters, as well as 750 miles of coastline, and includes:

 

     (1)  State parks, historic sites, forests and forest reserves, aquatic life and its sanctuaries, game management areas, public hunting areas, and natural area reserves; and

 

     (2)  Protection of the public's safety when using natural and cultural resources under the Department's jurisdiction.

 

     Your Committee is aware that in addition to cost-cutting measures, such as mandated furloughs and hiring freezes, a directive was issued to each division within the Department of Land and Natural Resources to reduce total cost differentials (overtime, night differentials, compensatory time, and pay adjustments) by fifty percent from the prior fiscal year.

 

     Your Committee finds that these budgetary measures have had a devastating effect on the operations of the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.  Your Committee believes that the restoration of the Division's general fund budget is essential so that the Division can continue to enforce Hawaii's natural and cultural resources laws to the fullest extent possible.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1330, 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 Water and Land,

 

 

 

____________________________

MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair