STAND. COM. REP. NO.  250

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2015

 

RE:   H.B. No. 837

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Water & Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 837 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION OF ANIMALS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to prevent the extinction of animals with ivory teeth and tusks and the rhinoceros by prohibiting the sale and trade of ivory and rhinoceros horn within the State.

 

     The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaiian Humane Society, Humane Society of the United States, The Nature Conservancy, and numerous individuals testified in support of this measure.  Lessons in Firearms Education, National Rifle Association of America, Hawaii Rifle Association, and many individuals testified in opposition to this measure.  Two individuals provided comments.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Exempting from the applicability of this measure:  

 

(A)  Guns, knives, and musical instruments where composition contains less than twenty percent ivory or rhinoceros horn; and

 

(B)  Ivory or rhinoceros horn jewelry identified as Ming's jewelry;

 

     (2)  Excluding whale teeth from the definition of "ivory";

 

     (3)  Specifying that there is a two-year enforcement delay on the prohibition of the sale and trade of ivory from the effective date of the measure;

 

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments to better comport with drafting conventions and to enhance clarity, consistency, and style; and

 

     (5)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water & Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 837, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 837, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water & Land,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

RYAN I. YAMANE, Chair