STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3370

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 

 

RE:     S.B. No. 3099

        S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 3099, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CLIMATE CHANGE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to implement the recommendations of the Hawai`i Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report.

 

     Specifically, this measure:

 

(1)  Requires each state department and agency and each county to adopt policies that consider and address sea level rise;

 

(2)  Appropriates moneys to the counties to conduct the necessary analysis and adopt the policies;

 

(3)  Requires the Office of Planning to integrate into state planning the sea level rise recommendations made by the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission;

 

(4)  Requires the Office of Planning to develop a financing strategy to fund sea level rise adaptation;

 

(5)  Amends the coastal zone management law to include objectives and policies that accommodate sea level rise;

 

(6)  Requires the Director of Environmental Quality Control to issue guidance regarding sea level rise and climate change;

 

(7)  Requires the Historic Preservation program to identify resources and practices impacted by sea level rise and to develop processes and protocols to preserve various historical sites;

 

(8)  Requires the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to establish a working group to develop plans to preserve access to coastal lands and water impacted by sea level rise;

 

(9)  Requires the Department of Health to conduct a sea level rise mitigation review and appropriates funds for that review;

 

(10) Requires that sellers in real estate transactions to disclose when a parcel being sold is within a sea level rise exposure area; and

 

(11) Requires the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission to make recommendations for specific state and county actions, establish a maintenance schedule for updating the sea level rise vulnerability and adaptation report, and conduct community engagement to raise awareness of the impacts of sea level rise.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Office of Planning, Department of Land and Natural Resources Climate Commission, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, and nine individuals.

 

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii Association of Realtors, and one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that this measure will help to establish a coordinated, government-wide approach to addressing, planning for, and adapting to the expected rise in sea levels over the coming decades.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

(1)  Changing from July 1, 2019, to December 31, 2023, the deadline for each department and agency of the State to complete an in-depth assessment of critical infrastructure that is at risk due to climate change and sea level rise;

 

(2)  Changing the amount appropriated for the Department of Health to conduct a sea level rise mitigation review to an unspecified amount;

 

(3)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

 

(4)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3099, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3099, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair