Environmental issues made headlines during the 2007 legislative session, even though few bills affecting the environment made it through to final passage. Topic A had to be the Senate\u2019s consideration of Peter Young, nominated by Governor Lingle to head the Department of Land and Natural Resources for a second term.<\/p>\n
\tThe review of Young\u2019s tenure during Lingle\u2019s first term by the Senate Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs lasted for days and brought out aspects of the DLNR\u2019s operations that cast a shadow over Young\u2019s managerial skills. Young\u2019s supporters in the environmental and conservation community \u2013 including some who had called for his resignation earlier in Young\u2019s tenure \u2013 argued that under his leadership, the department had made progress in protecting the state\u2019s natural resources. Detractors included the Hawai`i Government Employees Association, the union representing most state workers, members of fishing groups unhappy with fishing restrictions imposed during Young\u2019s tenure, boaters who oppose the administration\u2019s efforts to privatize state-owned small-boat harbors, and an attorney for Jimmy Pflueger, owner of the Kaua`i land where a reservoir broke last year, killing seven people.<\/p>\n
\tThe Senate committee took testimony behind closed doors about an ongoing investigation by the Department of Attorney General into allegations that private title companies had privileged access to records at the DLNR\u2019s Bureau of Conveyances, including access allowing documents to be manipulated. Also testifying under subpoena were former employees of the department\u2019s Historic Preservation Division who accused the division\u2019s current administrator of pressuring the division\u2019s professional archaeologists to take short-cuts.<\/p>\n
\tAfter nearly a week of testimony and an unfavorable committee recommendation, the full Senate rejected Young, with only five votes dissenting.<\/p>\n
\tYoung\u2019s term ran until the last day of the Legislature, May 3. After his rejection by the Senate, Lingle named Allan Smith, retired Grove Farm executive, to head the DLNR on an interim basis. Young is heading the 30-member search committee named by Lingle to search for his replacement.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has pretty well put to rest debate over whether global warming is caused by human activity \u2013 specifically, emissions of carbon compounds into the atmosphere that result from the combustion of fossil fuels. Recognizing the link, the 2007 Legislature passed a number of measures that are intended to reduce the state\u2019s dependence on fossil fuels or reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases, which trap solar heat in Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n \tThe most far-reaching measure was House Bill 226, relating to greenhouse gas emissions. The measure declares that state policy shall be to reduce Hawai`i\u2019s emissions by 2020 \u201cto levels at or below the best estimations and updates of the inventory of emissions in 1990,\u201d the reference year set in the international Kyoto protocol as a target for greenhouse gas reduction strategies.<\/p>\n \tTo that end, the bill calls for establishment of a 10-member task force to develop a plan and a \u201cregulatory scheme\u201d for bringing about \u201cthe maximum practically and technically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions\u201d to achieve reductions needed to attain the 1990 emissions target. Members are to include representatives of affected industries, environmental organizations, the University of Hawai`i, and state agencies. By 2010, the task force is to submit its first report to the Legislature.<\/p>\n \tBy the end of 2011, the director of the Department of Health is to adopt rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with an effective date of January 1, 2012.<\/p>\n \tThe Sierra Club Hawai`i Chapter described the measure as \u201chistoric,\u201d claiming it set \u201can enforceable limit on statewide greenhouse gas emissions in Hawai`i.\u201d By specifying that the measure is to be included in Chapter 342B, Hawai`i Revised Statutes, the rules eventually adopted to control greenhouse gas emissions will acquire enforceability.<\/p>\n \tExcluded from the bill\u2019s regulatory scope are emissions from airplanes. According to the Sierra Club Hawai`i Chapter, in 1990, such emissions accounted to more than 20 percent of the total.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n Several measures passed by the Legislature attempt to address Hawai`i\u2019s reliance on imported fossil fuels. Most of these were in the form of authorizations for special purpose revenue bonds. Sopogy, Inc., which has proposed a solar-thermal installation at Keahole, Kona, on land managed by the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai`i Authority, was qualified for $10 million in SPRBs.<\/p>\n \tQualifying for $20 million in SPRBs was Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning, LLC, which is proposing to build a seawater air conditioning system for downtown Honolulu. According to the legislation, such a system could reduce Honolulu\u2019s energy demand by about two-thirds of a megawatt.<\/p>\n \tThe Legislature authorized up to $59 million for a start-up Maui company, called BlueEarth Maui Biodiesel, LLC. But before the funds can be obtained, the Department of Budget and Finance has to receive written certification from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism that the feedstock to be used in the plant is from a sustainable source \u2013 for example, the source cannot be oil-palm plantations cultivated on cleared rain-forest lands in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n \tWhile Hui `Enekinia isn\u2019t proposing to use alternative fuels, it was able to get the Legislature to extend the deadline by which it has to redeem $20 million in SPRBs by another five years. The original authorization was made in 1993; reauthorizations occurred in 1998 and 2002. Now the company has until 2011 to use the bonds \u2013 or to request another extension. The company is proposing to build a cogeneration facility on the Big Island and sell power to HELCO, the Big Island electric utility.<\/p>\n \tSenate Bill 1720 would have authorized $100 million in SPRBs for a plasma-arc waste-to-energy plant on O`ahu proposed to be built by Jacoby Development, Inc. \u2013 the same company that is seeking a lease and permits to build a huge visitor and commercial center on state lands at Honokohau, Hawai`i. The measure passed the Senate but foundered in the House.<\/p>\n \tThe Legislature extended the tax credit for companies building ethanol plants to January 1, 2017; it had been set to expire five years earlier.<\/p>\n \tThe state land use law, Chapter 205 was amended to include biofuel processing facilities as a use not requiring special permits in the agriculture district. The same bill \u2013 Senate Bill 1943 \u2013 establishes an \u201cenergy feedstock program\u201d within the state Department of Agriculture and directs the department to set \u201cmilestones and objectives\u201d for growing energy crops in the state.<\/p>\n \tIn an effort to make the Public Utilities Commission better positioned to require utilities to develop alternative sources of energy, the Legislature passed House Bill 1005. Among other things, the bill authorizes the PUC to \u201cconsider the need for increased renewable energy use in exercising its authority and duties.\u201d<\/p>\n \tOne bill that failed would have had positive and wide-ranging consequences. Senate Bill 644, which would require new houses to have solar water heating systems (except when \u201ccost prohibitive\u201d or \u201cimpracticable\u201d) and would have expanded the tax credit for homeowners who install such systems to $3,250 (from the current $2,250). Opposed to it were HECO and the Gas Company, among others. The Department of Taxation estimated it would result in lost revenue to the state of around $25 million a year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n Senate Bill 1853 prepares the ground for establishment of `aha moku councils that are to advise the state on management of its natural resources. The puwalu process, sponsored in part by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council last year (and detailed in the April issue of Environment Hawai`i) was invoked in the findings section of the bill, which describes the puwalu as \u201ca gathering of empirical knowledge handed down from generation to generation on traditional fishing, agriculture, streams, fishponds, and land use methodology based on the ahupua`a system.\u201d At the conclusion of the fourth puwalu, in December, the bill states, \u201cit was agreed that the statutes and ordinances, and a framework for community consultation using the Hawaiian perspective and traditional methods \u2026 was needed, and the creation of the `aha moku councils should be established.\u201d The bill authorizes $110,000 in each of the next two fiscal years to be spent by an `aha kiole advisory committee, which is to consist of eight members appointed by the governor from a list of candidates submitted by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs. Among other things, the committee is to \u201cexplore, examine, and derive best practice models for the creation of an `aha moku council system.\u201d The Department of Land and Natural Resources was tasked with providing \u201csupport services to the advisory committee as the advisory committee deems necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n \tDespite passage of SB 1853, the Legislature punted when it came to passage of bills that would require fishing regulations to be developed by `aha-moku-type councils. That bill, House Bill 1848, was the subject of heated debate. As originally drafted, the bill would have established a high hurdle of scientific certainty before any fishing regulation could be adopted and would have effectively repealed the gill-net rules adopted earlier this year by the Board of Land and Natural Resources. Also, it would have set up an advisory council, weighted heavily toward fishing interests, that would have recommended changes in DLNR rules to the Legislature. The bill was substantially altered in the Senate, with the addition of a Maka`i o ke Kai (stewards of the sea) program of community based ocean resources management. The House disagreed with the Senate amendments. No acceptable measure was ironed out in conference committee.<\/p>\n \tHouse Bill 1499, which enjoyed strong support from conservation groups, would have allowed state enforcement officers to look through fishers\u2019 bags and coolers for evidence of fishing violations even though they may not have probable cause. \u201cRecent reports indicate that more than forty-four per cent of required monthly aquarium catch reports are not filed and the numbers of fish exported have been grossly underestimated,\u201d the bill stated. The measure made it through the House, but died in the Senate, where the language on probable cause evidently caused the bill to stall in the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.<\/p>\n \tSenate Bill 1276 would have required preparation of an environmental impact statement for the Superferry, which is set to begin interisland service this summer. It failed.<\/p>\n \tHouse Concurrent Resolution 58 urges the U.S. government to prohibit any of its agencies from dumping sewage waste in waters of the Hawaiian Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n Senate Bill 1066 establishes a fee for inspecting marine containers for quarantine inspections. It also establishes a fund into which such fees, set at $1 per 20-foot length of container, are to be deposited. The fund is also to receive legislative appropriations, grants, and federal funds.<\/p>\n \tHouse Bill 772 would have allowed the Department of Agriculture to establish fees for inspections of all imports to Hawai`i. Representatives from environmental groups, the Maui County Council and the Maui Mayor, and three state agencies \u2013 the Departments of Transportation, Agriculture, and Land and Natural Resources \u2013 testified in support of the measure. Opposed were Alexander & Baldwin and its shipping subsidiary, Matson Navigation, Horizon Lines, the Hawai`i Chamber of Commerce, and the state Department of Budget and Finance. The bill passed the House but was not heard by the Ways and Means Committee in the Senate.<\/p>\n \tSenate Bill 639 would have required the Department of Agriculture to update its noxious weed rules every two years and would have prohibited the introduction into the state of any new species unless specific clearance had been granted by the DOA. The DLNR and conservation groups supported the measure; the DOA opposed. The measure was watered down and passed to the House, where even the DOA supported its passage. It never made it out of the Finance Committee.<\/p>\n \tHouse Concurrent Resolution 231, adopted by both chambers, urges Hawai`i\u2019s congressional delegation to introduce and support federal legislation to establish an invasive species action plan to prevent the introduction of invasive species to Hawai`i from foreign sources. The resolution explains that federal law prohibits the state from conducting its own inspections on foreign imports. In 2003, the Department of Homeland Security transferred responsibility for such inspections from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the federal Customs and Border Protection Agency, \u201cwhich has left airport passenger and baggage entry ways more vulnerable to penetration by invasive species.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n House Bill 402 amends the law regarding use of the state Land Conservation Fund. That fund, established in 2005, was to be used to acquire and protect lands for watershed and habitat purposes, parks and recreational areas, open space and scenic resources, and agricultural production. Under HB 402, \u201cagricultural easements\u201d are added to the list of authorized uses. Funds can also be used for paying interest on state bonds floated for the purpose of acquiring \u201cinterests or rights in land having value as a resource to the state.\u201d<\/p>\n \tThe long-awaited, much anticipated transfer of part of Kawai Nui Marsh lands from the City and County of Honolulu to the state has received legislative blessing with the passage of House Bill 1899. The bill sets a September 1 deadline for the transfer.<\/p>\n \tHouse Bill 1037 would have added \u201csea level rise\u201d to the list of coastal hazards to be addressed through the state\u2019s Coastal Zone Management program and would have imposed a minimum setback of 40 feet for all coastal development. The bill died in the Senate.<\/p>\n \tHouse Bill 1831 would have required fencing of private and public game management areas. Supporting the bill were conservation groups; opposed were the DLNR, the Hawai`i Forest Industry Association, and the Hawai`i Rifle Association. Once in the hands of the Senate Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs, the bill was gutted. New language was substituted to require the DLNR to develop \u201cmammal management and control plans\u201d for each island, starting with O`ahu. The bill was referred to the Senate Ways and Means Committee, which held it.<\/p>\n \tSenate Bill 642 would have amended the Hawai`i Environmental Policy Act (Chapter 343 of Hawai`i Revised Statutes) to clarify circumstances in which a supplemental environmental impact statement would need to be prepared. The measure was supported by environmental groups, neighborhood boards, and a group opposed to the development proposed for Turtle Bay, on O`ahu\u2019s North Shore, as well as the Department of Health, among others. Opponents included the Kuilima Resort Company, the Land Use Research Foundation, agencies of the City and County of Honolulu, and the Attorney General. The measure died in the House.<\/p>\n — Patricia Tummons<\/p>\n Volume 17, Number 12 June 2007<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Environmental issues made headlines during the 2007 legislative session, even though few bills affecting the environment made it through to final passage. 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\nClimate Change<\/div>\n
\nAlternative Fuels<\/div>\n
\nNatural Resources<\/div>\n
\nInvasive Species<\/div>\n
\nLand Use<\/div>\n