Bill Text: HI SB1088 | 2017 | Regular Session | Amended

Hawaii Senate Bill 1088 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relating To Carbon Forestry Certification.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-03-21 - 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) Ichiyama excused (1). [SB1088 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2017-SB1088-Amended.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1088
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		H.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO CARBON FORESTRY CERTIFICATION.

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that one of the public trust obligations of the department of land and natural resources is the conservation and management of the State's natural resources. The benefits and services delivered by these ecosystems as a result of conservation and management efforts are not generally considered revenue generators. Hence, ecosystem restoration projects can mean substantial costs for the State that cannot be offset due to the lack of compensation mechanisms.

In an effort to mitigate the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, international, national, and local policy initiatives are seeking to create market-based mechanisms that allow for monetization of the multiple benefits provided by natural resources and for new options in restoration finance. In accordance with the department of land and natural resources' mandate to generate revenues that can contribute to its conservation and natural resource management activities, the department of land and natural resources is exploring such mechanisms to monetarize ecosystem services provided by the lands under its jurisdiction.

The legislature also finds that the department of land and natural resources proposes to certify a reforestation project operated by the department of land and natural resources under an established forest carbon standard on state lands at the southern slope of Haleakala, Maui. This area has an ongoing forest restoration project as part of the Leeward Haleakala Watershed Restoration Partnership, a voluntary public-private watershed protection alliance of eleven landowners that encompasses forty-three thousand contiguous acres of Leeward Haleakala Mountain. The carbon forest project addresses priority issues and targets priority areas identified in the Hawaii forest action plan by improving watershed functions, restoring endangered species habitats, reducing the impacts of climate change, and protecting a native ecosystem not adaptive to wildfire. The project area was once a native Acacia koa-ohia-dominated montane mesic forest that was an important habitat for the federally listed endemic Hawaiian Hoary bat and endangered Hawaiian forest birds. Due to uncontrolled grazing animals, such as ungulates, the native forest has been largely eliminated across much of the landscape and replaced by fire adapted, non-native invasive grasses. The department of land and natural resources, with support of its partners, will convert this degraded pastureland back to native forest to sequester carbon, reduce erosion, increase water supply recharge, re-establish endangered species habitat, mitigate wildfire threats by removing fire adapted invasive plants, and support many other natural and cultural benefits.

In the last three years, the department of land and natural resources and partners have constructed fences, removed ungulates, conducted weed control, and commenced planting using leveraged funds. While the department of land and natural resources already secured funding for the restoration activities described above through federal and state sources, the certification of the carbon project under an established forest carbon standard will require an initial investment of approximately $120,000.

The legislature finds that creating additional revenue streams through certification of the landscape-level restoration project at the southern slope of Haleakala under an established voluntary forest carbon standard and sale of carbon offset credits would create a framework for long-term maintenance support for forest management as well as provide the department of land and natural resources with the certification and expertise for future reforestation projects.

The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds for the certification of a reforestation project operated by the department of land and natural resources under an established forest carbon standard certification system.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the natural area reserve fund of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2017-2018 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2018-2019 for the certification of the carbon project at Haleakala, Maui, under an established forest carbon standard.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of land and natural resources for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 3. The department of land and natural resources shall submit an annual audit report on the carbon project certification pursuant to this Act to the governor and the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session. The annual reports shall include:

(1) A detailed summary audit of the project;

(2) A financial report for the preceding fiscal year;

(3) Objectives and budget projections for the following fiscal year; and

(4) A list of all contracts, investors, and memorandums of understandings.

SECTION 4. All contracts, agreements, permits, or other documents executed or entered into by the department of land and natural resources must be competitively bid pursuant to this Act and shall remain in full force and effect until terminated pursuant to the terms of the relevant contract, agreement, permit, or document.

SECTION 5. Contractors and other third parties who receive funds under this section may be subject to review and inspection by the department of land and natural resources, the attorney general, or the auditor. Upon request by such agencies, the contractor or third party shall be required to submit for review all files, records, documents, and accounting related to the use and expenditure of funds received pursuant to this section, whether the funds were received via contract, grant, or other agreement.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.

Report Title:

Forest Restoration; Carbon Forestry Certification; Appropriation

Description:

Appropriates funds for certification of a reforestation carbon project at Haleakala, Maui, operated by DLNR, under an established forest carbon standard certification system. Requires DLNR to submit an annual report on the project certification to the governor and legislature. Effective 7/1/2050. (SB1088 HD1)

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