Governor Cayetano has signed into law, as Act 135, legislation that extends for five years the authorization of special purpose revenue bonds — SPRBs — for a partnership known as Hui `Enekenia Hawai`i. The original authorization, made in 1993, was for $10 million in SPRBs, and was to expire on June 30, 1998. Senate Bill 3527 increased the amount of authorization to $20 million and extends the time frame to June 30, 2003.
Details of HEH in the bill and in testimony are sparse.
According to William Milks and former Big Island mayor Dante Carpenter, both HEH principals, HEH is a registered limited partnership seeking to develop, design, construct, own and operate electric power generating facilities producing utility-grade electricity for sale to Hawai`i Electric Light Co., the utility serving the Big Island. Documents at the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs identify Hawaiian Wiliki, Ltd., as the general partner. Hawaiian Wiliki is a Hawaiian corporation whose officers are William Milks and William Pietrucha. Limited partners in Hui `Enekenia are Dante Carpenter and another company, Pacific Solutions, Inc. In DCCA records, Pacific Solutions is identified as a mediation service; Milks is its president.
According to Milks, all of HEH’s power projects — whatever they may be — remain at the early stages of development.
“If and when developments progress, HELCO, its customers, and the Big Island economy will benefit from the enactment of [the bill],” his testimony stated.
Special purpose revenue bonds allow developers of certain types of projects (utilities, manufacturing plants, hospitals) to attract capital at lower rates because income from the bonds is not taxed at the federal or state level. Unlike state-issued revenue or general obligation bonds, the full faith and credit of the state is not put at risk. Rather, the developer assumes all responsibility for payment of the bond holders.
According to Gordon Wong of the state Department of Budget and Finance, the amount of SPRBs authorized but not utilized (such as the Hui `Enekinia authorization) totals more than $1 billion. A similar amount of SPRBs are issued and outstanding, he told Environment Hawai`i. A lot of times, developers seek SPRBs thinking it’s an easy state subsidy, he said. When they find out SPRBs are not exactly that, they may lose interest in floating bonds, even if they are authorized.
The governor also signed, as Act 148, House Bill 2547, which authorizes SPRBs totaling $10 million to be floated by Palama Meat Co. The bonds are to finance construction of a slaughterhouse, meat processing plant, and waste treatment plant at Campbell Industrial Park.
Sterile Snakes
The state’s fight to keep brown tree snakes out of Hawai’i was given a boost with the signing by Governor Cayetano of Act 10, which allows the Department of Agriculture to import one live, sterile, male brown tree snake for research and training of the department’s dog teams. The dogs, whose duty it is to inspect planes and cargo for prohibited material, will now be able to learn the scent of the brown tree snake.
The Legislature also passed a bill to discourage the intentional illegal importation of alien species. House Bill 2533 strengthened the penalties and fines for violations of the Plant and Non-domestic Animal Quarantine Law under 150A-14, Hawai’i Revised Statutes.
The bill increases the minimum fine for people convicted of possessing or intentionally transporting a prohibited or restricted plant, animal or microorganism. Previously, a person could be fined $500 to $25,000. The new range is $5,000 to$20,000.
The bill also establishes penalties and fines for anyone who intentionally transports, harbors, or imports with the intent to propagate, sell, or release any prohibited plant, animal, or microorganism without a permit. The violation will be considered a class C felony and could result in fines between $50,000 and $200,000.
Organic Farming
Hearings on several legislative resolutions concerning organic foods drew testimony in opposition from RESCUE Hawai`i, a new group that defends the interests of makers and distributors of agricultural chemicals. The resolutions were adopted, but only after being watered down in accordance with comments from RESCUE.
House Concurrent Resolution No. 240, “recognizing the organic industry as an agricultural commodity group,” took note of the fact that the organic foods industry nationwide was growing at a rate of 20 percent a year. In Hawai`i, the resolution noted, the organic industry grossed $6.8 million in 1996, “which is equivalent to the value of the hog industry” statewide.
The resolution was generally supported by the state Department of Agriculture and the Hawai`i Farm Bureau. Opposing it were the Hawai`i Agriculture Research Center (formerly the Hawai`i Sugar Planters Association) and RESCUE HAWAI`I. HARC’s president, Stephanie Whalen, objected on the ground that the term agricultural commodity should refer only to discrete crops, “such as wheat, soybean, corn…” and not a process. “All processes,” Whalen continued, “should be encouraged to provide the consumer with many options.”
The RESCUE Hawai`i testimony was delivered by Rick Klemm, the group’s executive director and a registered lobbyist who works for nine separate chemical manufacturers, distributors, or corporate associations. Klemm said that the resolution sent an “erroneous message… We believe that farmers should be able to farm in a responsible manner of their choosing. Likewise, we believe consumers should be able to buy food products of their choosing.” No language in the resolution, however, encouraged consumers to purchase organic foods; at most, the resolution noted that “certified organic production, handling, processing and labeling standards … give consumers a choice in how and with what inputs their food is produced.”
Klemm especially objected to the resolution’s finding that “increased interest in organic products has come from an increased awareness of the human and environmental health benefits associated with organics.” This, said Klemm, “perpetuates the marketing hype and inaccurate information that organic food is healthier and [sic] than conventional foods and that organic farming is more environmentally friendly than conventional farming.”
But, noted Klemm (who takes pains to describe himself as a former English teacher), “there just isn’t any significant nutritional differences [sic] between conventional and organic crops.” And, he added, trace amounts of pesticides on most conventionally grown crops are usually no greater than what is found on organic crops.
Not to be overlooked by Klemm was the chestnut that organic produce may contain “higher levels of natural pesticides,” since organic farmers, to protect their crops, have bred “fruit and vegetable crops that contain unnaturally high levels of pesticides.”
The resolution was adopted, but only after deletion of the paragraph linking interest in organic products to overall awareness of their “human and environmental health benefits.”
Klemm also testified on House Concurrent Resolution 232, requesting the state Advisory Committee on Pesticides to look into the feasibility of integrated pest management programs for state agencies. Among other things, the resolution said integrated pest management programs could “reduce risks, including those from chemical methods.” The inclusion of risks from chemicals caused Klemm to object.
It is hard to know what risks IPM would eliminate, if not those “from chemical methods,” since IPM involves using a mix of farming techniques — crop rotation and mixes, tilling practices, sanitation measures, use of compost and mulches, and the like — precisely to effect reductions in the cost of and need for chemical applications.
Maritime Authority
House Bill 2998, signed by the governor as Act 183, calls for creation of a Hawai`i Maritime Authority. The goal, Cayetano said in a signing ceremony and press release, “is to create a more efficient, one-stop maritime agency.”
The Harbors Division of the Department of Transportation, the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, and the maritime agencies of the Hawai`i Community Development Authority and Aloha Tower Development Corporation are to be merged into a single agency.
Details of the transition are to be drawn up by a temporary commission of 15 members. Seven are to be drawn from state boards or agencies; eight are to represent the general public, labor, and private industry.
— Patricia Tummons
Volume 9, Number 2 August 1998