Bill Text: HI SB3013 | 2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Forest Carbon Offsets Program; Carbon Emissions; DLNR
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-03-08 - (H) Referred to EEP/WLO, FIN, referral sheet 41 [SB3013 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2012-SB3013-Amended.html
STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2306
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 3013
S.D. 1
Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui
President of the Senate
Twenty-Sixth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2012
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Water, Land, and Housing and Energy and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 3013 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a carbon credits program in the Department of Land and Natural Resources and require the Department to adopt rules for the sale and transfer of carbon credits among public and private agencies to ensure land conservation and reduced carbon emission standards.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Life of the Land. Your Committees received comments on this measure from one individual.
Your Committees find that global warming has put Hawaii in a dangerous position that increases the State's dependence on fossil fuels and has been causing noticeable changes to our environment. Being a secluded island state, one of Hawaii's priorities should be to focus on promoting programs that reduce carbon emissions and protect our environment.
Your Committees further find that the buying and selling of carbon credits has gained success in Europe. Through this mechanism, businesses are incentivized to adopt environmentally friendly measures that reduce carbon emissions. However, your Committees find that a Hawaii program based on this model should have a narrower focus on the State's immediate needs regarding forests and watersheds.
Accordingly, your Committees have deleted the contents of this measure and adopted the Department of Land and Natural Resources' (DLNR) suggested draft, which:
(1) Adds a new purpose section to appropriately reflect the new language of the measure;
(2) Requires DLNR to establish a forest carbon offsets program, which allows the creation of forest carbon offsets that can be transferred or sold among public and private agencies in the State to guarantee sustainable management of Hawaii's natural resources and reduce carbon emissions;
(3) Requires DLNR to set standards, develop processes, and adopt rules to implement the forest carbon offsets program and ensure that the forest management activities performed pursuant to the program meet certain criteria; and
(4) Requires the Board of Land and Natural Resources to establish processing fees for the identification of sustainable forest carbon offsets, to be deposited into the forest stewardship fund.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, and Housing and Energy and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3013, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3013, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water, Land, and Housing and Energy and Environment,
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____________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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____________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair |
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