Veto List Released
To our leg junkies (those with the fortitude to chase bills through the legislative session): Abercrombie has released his "intent to veto" list, notifying legislators of 23 bills he'll be giving the thumbs down to.
Bills which may be of note to those following energy, environment, development, ag lands, or conservation lands:
Senate Bill 1511 increases the maximum lease terms for aquaculture operations from 35 to 65 years and defines “aquaculture” under Section 171-59(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes. The Governor believes oceans are always changing and providing 65-year leases is not prudent. In addition, the definition of aquaculture is too broad.
Senate Bill 1559 establishes incentives for important agricultural lands. However, this measure does not provide penalties or resolution for failure to comply, does not identify the agency responsible for monitoring compliance and does not address how the monitoring agency will be able to distinguish Important Agricultural Lands (IAL) and non-IAL source products. In addition, incentives should be targeted toward certain agricultural goals and not the general category of important agricultural lands.
House Bill 1505 establishes the State Facility Renovation Partnership Program, which would allow the sale of certain state facilities to private investors who would improve the facility and lease it back to the state. The Governor is opposed to the sale of state facilities to private entities. Additionally, there are potential debt service issues with the sale of public buildings previously financed with general obligation bonds that may currently be outstanding.
Senate Bill 23 establishes within DLNR, the aha kiole advisory council, which may advise the Office of the Chairperson of the BLNR and the Legislature on issues related to land and natural resource management through the aha moku system. The Council is self-selected, is not confirmed, has no terms of service, cannot be removed for cause and would select its own Executive Director and staff. This is essentially a private entity that would receive annual taxpayer funds with no oversight.
Senate Bill 1230 exempts nonresidential structures used for agricultural or aquaculture operations from county building permit requirements. This bill address a problem that needs to be resolved, however, there are ambiguities in the bill on the implementation process. The Governor plans to sign another bill that establishes a task force to look at impediments for the permitting processes.
House Bill 680 repeals the requirement that the Hawaii Community Development Authority consider recommendations by the Kakaako Makai Community Planning Advisory Council in developing, accepting, and implementing any plans for the Kakaako makai area.
House Bill 1164 authorizes the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to consider the sale or exchange of Sand Island parcels to leaseholders. DLNR has repeatedly stated that the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) is not interested in selling or exchanging the lands under the Sand Island master lease into a hundred small lot transfers with a hundred separate land transactions that could result in the Department owning several non-contiguous lots.
House Bill 1405 requires the Office of Planning to establish a statewide system of greenways and trails. In developing this system, the Office is required to meet with various state departments and the counties and review systems of greenways and trails. The Office currently has a staff of six people that focus almost exclusively on meeting federal mandates. Effective implementation of this measure requires resources and funding that the Office does not currently have.
House Bill 1520 directs the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to investigate an On-Bill Financing Program for residential electric utility customers to finance purchases of energy efficient or renewable energy devices and systems through their regular electric utility bills.
See the full list at: http://www.hawaii247.com/2011/06/27/abercrombie-notifies-legislature-of-intent-to-veto-23-bills/
