Bill Text: HI SB1174 | 2010 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Motor Vehicle Emissions; California Code; Rules

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-05-11 - Carried over to 2010 Regular Session. [SB1174 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-SB1174-Amended.html

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STAND. COM. REP. NO. 370

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1174

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Energy and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 1174 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to require the Director of Health to adopt rules, no later than January 1, 2011, to establish and implement the motor vehicle emission program standards of California for passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles.

 

     This measure also requires the Director of Health to convene an advisory group composed of industry and consumer group representatives to review and comment upon any proposed rule or rule changes prior to adoption of the rules.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from four organizations and eighteen individuals.  Testimony in opposition was received from four organizations.  Comments were received from one state department.  Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

Your Committee finds that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, which result from the burning of fossil fuels and other activities, have been implicated in global climate change.  Climate change, if it continues unabated, will likely have profound consequences on Hawaii's environment and quality of life.  In worst case scenarios, the Pacific Ocean may inundate most of Waikiki, the business district in Honolulu, and coastal resort areas on other islands.

 

     Your Committee further finds that by transitioning away from fossil fuel sources for electricity generation, Hawaii can play a pivotal role in demonstrating technologies that reduce humankind's contribution to global climate change.

 

     According to testimony:

 

     (1)  California and thirteen other states have adopted the California standards, most commonly by means of administrative rules;

 

     (2)  California estimates that its California Clean Car Law would reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from passenger cars by eighteen percent in 2020 and by twenty-seven percent in 2030; and

 

     (3)  The greenhouse gasses that would be drastically reduced by this measure are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrfluorocarbons.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1174 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Transportation, International and Intergovernmental Affairs.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy and Environment,

 

		____________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair