STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1344

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 952

       H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred H.B. No. 952, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NATURAL RESOURCES,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Land and Natural Resources to address the impacts of climate change in the State.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Defense, University of Hawaii Climate Resilience Collaborative and Sea Grant College Program, Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission, The Nature Conservancy, Hawaii Forestry Industry Association, Kauai Climate Action Coalition, and five individuals.

 

     Your Committees find that climate change is the overarching challenge for the State.  Therefore, this measure will ensure that the Department of Land and Natural Resources has the necessary resources to carry out plans and strategies to mitigate the current and future effects of climate change, including through the protection, management, and restoration of native forests, native plants and animals, aquatic resources, coastal lands, and freshwater sources.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 952, H.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment,

 

________________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair

 

________________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair