Hawaii-2011-SB1443-Amended

SECTION 1. Part IX of Act 233, Session Laws of Hawaii 2008, added a new section to chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes, that requires the identification and designation of certain public lands under the management of the department of land and natural resources as important agricultural lands, followed by the transfer of these lands to the department of agriculture, along with the appropriations and non-personnel assets related to the department of land and natural resources' management of these lands. Designation of public lands as important agricultural lands will allow existing and future lessees of these public lands to have access to the incentives found in Act 233, such as the qualified agricultural cost tax credit.

Allowing farmers on public lands designated as important agricultural lands to utilize certain incentives will help stabilize and improve their agricultural operations. However, the classification of public lands as important agricultural lands will have unintended consequences that will jeopardize the integrity of the department of agriculture's agricultural park program and non-agricultural park lands program, the two programs where transferred agricultural public lands are situated and managed. Section 205-43, Hawaii Revised Statutes, details the policies to be followed in promoting the long-term viability of agricultural use of important agricultural lands, but the section does not contain a list of permissible uses on important agricultural lands. Therefore, by default, the permissible uses found in sections 205-2 and 205-4.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, would apply to important agricultural lands. These permissible uses include farm dwellings, employee housing, plantation community subdivisions, agricultural tourism, open area recreation, parks, riding stables, and communications antennas. Other unusual and reasonable uses may be located on agricultural land by special permit and include schools, churches, gas stations, and commercial and medical offices.

Several of the permissible and unusual and reasonable uses under sections 205-2 and 205-4.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are in conflict with the intent, purpose, and rules of the agricultural parks program and the non-agricultural parks program. The department of agriculture utilizes a thorough qualification process to ensure potential lessees will undertake substantial agricultural activity. Farm dwellings and employee housing are often not allowed, and uses and activities not directly related to agricultural production are strictly controlled. The majority of the total annual income of lessees is required to come from agricultural activities. The purpose, rules, and management of these public lands by the department of agriculture are unmatched in their support of agricultural production and, unlike the privately owned lands under the important agricultural lands legislation, are not subject to reclassification, subdivision, lack of monitoring, and special permitted uses. The public land management programs of the department of agriculture closely emulate, and even surpass, the purpose and intent of the important agricultural lands legislation.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Require the departments of agriculture and land and natural resources to identify and map certain public lands to be considered for transfer from the department of land and natural resources to the department of agriculture;

(2) Establish a timetable for the transfer of those parcels that have been identified and mapped;

(3) Require the department of agriculture to identify, of those transferred public lands, which lands should be considered for designation by the land use commission as important agricultural lands;

(4) Clarify that public lands that are transferred from the department of land and natural resources to the department of agriculture shall be subject to the same criteria and standards for identifying and designating important agricultural lands; and

(5) Require the transferred lands to have access to certain important agricultural lands incentives; provided that those incentives do not contradict or otherwise violate the conditions and requirements of chapters 166 and 166E, under which the department of agriculture will manage the important public agricultural lands.

SECTION 2. Chapter 166, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§166- Important agricultural lands. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, for public lands designated as important agricultural lands and managed under this chapter, the board shall determine and establish conditions for which incentives or uses for important agricultural lands shall be made available to leases managed under this chapter."

SECTION 3. Chapter 166E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§166E- Important agricultural lands. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, for public lands designated as important agricultural lands and managed under this chapter, the board shall determine and establish conditions for which incentives or uses for important agricultural lands shall be made available to leases managed under this chapter."

SECTION 4. Section 141-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§141-1 Duties in general. The department of agriculture shall:

(1) Gather, compile, and tabulate, from time to time, information and statistics concerning:

(A) Entomology and plant pathology: Insects, scales, blights, and diseases injurious or liable to become injurious to trees, plants, or other vegetation, and the ways and means of exterminating pests and diseases already in the State and preventing the introduction of pests and diseases not yet here; and

(B) General agriculture: Fruits, fibres, and useful or ornamental plants and their introduction, development, care, and manufacture or exportation, with a view to introducing, establishing, and fostering new and valuable plants and industries;

(2) Encourage and cooperate with the agricultural extension service and agricultural experiment station of the University of Hawaii and all private persons and organizations doing work of an experimental or educational character coming within the scope of the subject matter of chapters 141, 142, and 144 to 150A, and avoid, as far as practicable, duplicating the work of those persons and organizations;

(3) Enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, or other transactions with any person, agency, or organization, public or private, as may be necessary in the conduct of the department's business and on such terms as the department may deem appropriate; provided that the department shall not obligate any funds of the State, except the funds that have been appropriated to the department. Pursuant to cooperative agreement with any authorized federal agency, employees of the cooperative agency may be designated to carry out, on behalf of the State the same as department personnel, specific duties and responsibilities under chapters 141, 142, 150A, and rules adopted pursuant to those chapters, for the effective prosecution of pest control and animal disease control and the regulation of import into the State and intrastate movement of regulated articles;

(4) Secure copies of the laws of other states, territories, and countries, and other publications germane to the subject matters of chapters 141, 142, and 144 to 150A, and make laws and publications available for public information and consultation;

(5) Provide buildings, grounds, apparatus, and appurtenances necessary for the examination, quarantine, inspection, and fumigation provided for by chapters 141, 142, and 144 to 150A; for the obtaining, propagation, study, and distribution of beneficial insects, growths, and antidotes for the eradication of insects, blights, scales, or diseases injurious to vegetation of value and for the destruction of injurious vegetation; and for carrying out any other purposes of chapters 141, 142, and 144 to 150A;

(6) Formulate and recommend to the governor and legislature additional legislation necessary or desirable for carrying out the purposes of chapters 141, 142, and 144 to 150A;

(7) Publish at the end of each year a report of the expenditures and proceedings of the department and of the results achieved by the department, together with other matters germane to chapters 141, 142, and 144 to 150A and that the department may deem proper;

(8) Administer a program of agricultural planning and development, including the formulation and implementation of general and special plans, including but not limited to the functional plan for agriculture; administer the planning, development, and management of the agricultural park program; plan, construct, operate, and maintain the state irrigation water systems; review, interpret, and make recommendations with respect to public policies and actions relating to agricultural land and water use; assist in research, evaluation, development, enhancement, and expansion of local agricultural industries; and serve as liaison with other public agencies and private organizations for the above purposes. In the foregoing, the department shall act to conserve and protect agricultural lands and irrigation water systems, promote diversified agriculture, increase agricultural self-sufficiency, and ensure the availability of agriculturally suitable lands; and

(9) Manage, administer, and exercise control over any public lands, as defined under section 171-2, that are transferred to the department of agriculture pursuant to chapter 166 or chapter 166E and subsequently identified, on a case-by-case basis, as potential important agricultural lands and then designated as important agricultural lands pursuant to [~~section 205-44.5, including but not limited to establishing priorities for the leasing of these public lands within the department's jurisdiction.~~] chapter 205."

SECTION 5. Section 171-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§171-3 Department of land and natural resources. [~~(a)~~] The department of land and natural resources shall be headed by an executive board to be known as the board of land and natural resources. The department shall manage, administer, and exercise control over public lands, the water resources, ocean waters, navigable streams, coastal areas (excluding commercial harbor areas), and minerals and all other interests therein and exercise such powers of disposition thereof as may be authorized by law. The department shall also manage and administer the state parks, historical sites, forests, forest reserves, aquatic life, aquatic life sanctuaries, public fishing areas, boating, ocean recreation, coastal programs, wildlife, wildlife sanctuaries, game management areas, public hunting areas, natural area reserves, and other functions assigned by law.

[(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), beginning January 1, 2010, the authority to manage, administer, and exercise control over any public lands that are designated important agricultural lands pursuant to section 205-44.5, shall be transferred to the department of agriculture.]"

SECTION 6. Section 205-44.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§205-44.5[]] Important agricultural lands; public lands. (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, before [~~December 31, 2009,~~] June 30, 2012, the department of agriculture and the department of land and natural resources shall [~~collaborate to identify~~] utilize the processes described in chapter 166 and chapter 166E and shall identify and map by tax map key qualified encumbered and unencumbered public lands, as defined under section 171-2 [~~that should be designated important agricultural lands as defined in section 205-42 and shall cause to be prepared maps delineating those lands.~~], to be considered for transfer from the department of land and natural resources to the department of agriculture. No later than June 30, 2013, no less than fifty per cent of the parcels of public lands identified as qualified for transfer by the department of agriculture shall be transferred from the department of land and natural resources to the department of agriculture. The remainder of the parcels of public lands identified as qualified for transfer by the department of agriculture shall be transferred no later than June 30, 2014. The completion of the transfer of parcels of public lands for the purpose of designation as important agricultural lands shall not prevent or inhibit in any manner any future consideration, identification, and transfer of additional parcels of public lands as provided in chapter 166 and chapter 166E. Upon the transfer of the public lands, the department of agriculture with the approval of the board of agriculture shall identify, on a case-by-case basis, those transferred public lands, as well as public lands already under the management of the department of agriculture, that should be considered for designation by the land use commission as important agricultural lands as defined in section 205-42. In [~~making the designations,~~] identifying potential important agricultural lands, the [~~departments~~] department of agriculture shall use the standards and criteria of section 205-44.

(b) The designation of public lands identified as potential important agricultural lands pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the district boundary amendment procedures of section 205-3.1 or 205-4 or declaratory order procedures of section 205-45.

(c) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, [~~beginning January 1, 2010,~~] after receipt of the maps of public lands identified as important agricultural lands pursuant to subsection (a), the commission shall designate the public lands as important agricultural lands and adopt the maps of those public lands. Upon designation, the public lands shall be subject to those provisions of this chapter[.] that are identified and approved by the department and board of agriculture to carry out the purpose and intent of this part, and that do not violate the provisions contained in chapter 166 or chapter 166E."

SECTION 7. Section 205-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§205-52 Periodic review and amendment of important agricultural lands maps. (a) The maps delineating important agricultural lands shall be reviewed in conjunction with the county general plan and community, development, or community development plan revision process, or at least once every ten years following the adoption of the maps by the land use commission; provided that the maps shall not be reviewed more than once every five years. Any review and amendment of the maps of important agricultural lands shall be conducted in accordance with this part. In these periodic reviews or petitions by the farmers or landowners for declaratory rulings, the "important agricultural lands" designation shall be removed from those important agricultural lands where the commission has issued a declaratory order that a sufficient supply of water is no longer available to allow profitable farming of these lands due to governmental actions, acts of God, or other causes beyond the farmer's or landowner's reasonable control; provided that, if the "important agricultural lands" were designated by a declaratory order in combination with the reclassification of land in the agricultural district to the rural, urban, or conservation district pursuant to section 205-45, the commission shall not remove the designation unless the legislature provides prior authorization by adoption of a concurrent resolution in accordance with section 205-45.

(b) Maps of important agricultural lands created pursuant to section 205-44.5(a) shall be exempt from this section."

SECTION 8. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

SENATE	S.B. NO.	1443
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011		S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII