Bill Text: HI HB1355 | 2017 | Regular Session | Amended

Hawaii House Bill 1355 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relating To The Issuance Of Special Purpose Revenue Bonds To Assist Maui All Natural Alternative, Llc.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-16 - Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) DeCoite, Holt, Souki excused (3). [HB1355 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2017-HB1355-Amended.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1355
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS TO ASSIST MAUI ALL NATURAL ALTERNATIVE, LLC.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Maui All Natural Alternative, LLC, proposes to build a privately-financed project to provide municipal sludge processing and renewable energy at the Wailuku-Kahului wastewater reclamation facility on Maui. The services provided are in the public interest and address various state mandates on solid waste and renewable energy. The renewable fuel to power the facility will come through promotion of local agricultural activity, which has significantly diminished in recent years due to the closing of active plantations. The sludge processing services are designed to convert municipal sludge into a beneficially reusable product. The facility will also create jobs and commercially demonstrate the use of agriculture for a sustainable future on Maui and in the State.

The legislature further finds that the county of Maui selected Maui All Natural Alternative, LLC, to provide the aforementioned services after a competitive bidding process. The facility will be sited on the Wailuku-Kahului wastewater reclamation facility property under a lease with the county of Maui. The project will also return to agriculture approximately five hundred acres of former sugar cane agricultural lands located in central Maui. Energy crops will be harvested to provide clean renewable gas for the generation of firm renewable energy and processing municipal sludge.

The legislature additionally finds that the facility will provide valuable operational knowledge and future pathways for large scale projects, which can assist in fulfilling Hawaii's sustainability goals associated with environmental protection, renewable energy, energy security, and promotion of agriculture.

The legislature also finds that the benefits of the development of this facility include the following:

(1) Reduction of up to six thousand eight hundred tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, with a potential for future reduction of 1,500,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions;

(2) Reduction of up to twenty-four thousand tons of sewage sludge for beneficial reuse; and

(3) Initial creation of approximately ten to fifteen permanent jobs, with the potential to create up to two hundred new jobs.

Finally, the legislature notes that the development of the project contributes to the State and county of Maui's mandates, enables the use of private funding for a public purpose project, and does not present an operational or financial risk to the State or the county of Maui.

The legislature finds and declares that the issuance of special purpose revenue bonds under this Act is in the public interest and for the public health, safety, and general welfare.

SECTION 2. Pursuant to part V, chapter 39A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the department of budget and finance, with the approval of the governor, is authorized to issue special purpose revenue bonds in a total amount not to exceed $ , in one or more series, for the purpose of assisting Maui All Natural Alternative, LLC, a Hawaii foreign limited liability corporation, for development, financing, and construction of a project to provide municipal sludge processing and renewable energy at Wailuku-Kahului wastewater reclamation facility in the county of Maui. The legislature hereby finds and determines that Maui All Natural Alternative, LLC's development, financing, and construction of a project to provide municipal sludge processing and renewable energy constitute a project as defined in part V, chapter 39A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and the financing thereof is assistance to an industrial enterprise.

SECTION 3. The special purpose revenue bonds and the refunding special purpose revenue bonds issued under this Act shall be issued pursuant to part V, chapter 39A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to the power to issue special purpose revenue bonds to assist industrial enterprises.

SECTION 4. The department of budget and finance is authorized, from time to time, including times subsequent to June 30, 2022, to issue special purpose revenue bonds in whatever principal amounts the department shall determine to be necessary to refund the special purpose revenue bonds authorized in section 2 and to refund special purpose revenue bonds authorized in this section, regardless of whether the outstanding special purpose revenue bonds or refunding special purpose revenue bonds have matured or are the subject of redemption or whether the refunding special purpose revenue bonds shall be bonds for the multi-project programs described in section 2. In making this determination, the department shall comply with federal law relating to the exemption from federal income taxation of the interest on bonds of the nature authorized by this section.

SECTION 5. The authorization to issue special purpose revenue bonds under this Act shall lapse on June 30, 2022.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on January 28, 2081.

Report Title:

SPRB; Special Purpose Revenue Bonds; Sludge Processing; Renewable Energy; Maui All Natural Alternative, LLC

Description:

Authorizes the issuance of special purpose revenue bonds to assist Maui All Natural Alternative, LLC with the development of a project to provide municipal sludge processing and renewable energy at the Wailuku-Kahului wastewater reclamation facility on Maui. (HB1355 HD1)

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.