CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 72-16

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2016

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2904

       H.D. 1

       C.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Sirs:

 

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 2904, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AQUATIC MITIGATION BANKS,"

 

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

 

     The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Department of Land and Natural Resources to establish and operate aquatic mitigation banks to restore, create, enhance, or preserve aquatic habitats or resources as compensatory mitigation, where a person is required to provide compensatory mitigation prospectively and the use of banked mitigation is approved by the agency requiring mitigation, or for past damages to aquatic habitats or resources.

 

     Your Committee on Conference finds that aquatic mitigation banks help to restore, create, enhance, or preserve aquatic habitats or resources to recover the ecological functions, services, and value of aquatic resources lost by adverse impacts to other similar aquatic habitats.  Mitigation banks serve as a mechanism to restore or replace aquatic resources and ecological functions of aquatic habitats either prospectively or after they have been damaged; therefore, your Committee on Conference finds that mitigation banks are a first step in the process of creating innovative mechanisms for aquatic resource conservation in the State.

 

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by making it effective upon its approval.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2904, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2904, H.D. 1, C.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

 

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

 

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

 

____________________________

KANIELA ING, Co-Chair

 

____________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair

____________________________

NICOLE E. LOWEN, Co-Chair

 

____________________________

BRICKWOOD GALUTERIA, Co-Chair