STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1725

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.C.R. No. 130

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Human Services, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 130 entitled:

 

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ENGAGING, ENDORSING, ACCEPTING, AND ADOPTING THE AARHUS CONVENTION TO ACHIEVE THE UNITED NATIONS PARIS AGREEMENT, THE 2030 AGENDA, AND THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Engage, endorse, accept, and adopt the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention); and

 

     (2)  Request that the United States Congress embrace the Aarhus Convention and make protection of the environment and decision-making on environmental policies the centerpiece of national debate and practice.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services and Oahu County Democrats Committee on Legislative Priorities.

 

     Your Committees find that the Aarhus Convention:

 

     (1)  Links environmental rights and human rights;

 

     (2)  Acknowledges that we owe an obligation to future generations;

 

     (3)  Establishes that sustainable development can be achieved only through the involvement of all stakeholders;

 

     (4)  Links government accountability and environmental protection; and

 

     (5)  Focuses on interactions between the public and public authorities in a democratic context.

 

     Your Committees further find that the tenets of the Aarhus Convention align with many of the State's environmental policies and goals.  Your Committees therefore find that this measure engages, endorses, accepts, and adopts the Aarhus Convention and requests the United States Congress to embrace the Aarhus Convention and elevate environmental protection and policies in national debate and practice.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 130, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 130, S.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Human Services,

 

________________________________

RUSSELL E. RUDERMAN, Chair

 

________________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair