CapitolWatch: Second Crossover Approaching
By Wayne Tanaka | Reading time: 4.5 minutes
Second crossover is right around the corner, and several surviving bills could have major implications for our islandsʻ environment. Read below for more!
Sierra Club endorsements in limbo?
The Sierra Club of Hawai‘i has long endeavored – through hundreds of volunteer hours researching, interviewing and discussing the dozens of candidates for local, state and federal offices each election season – to inform Hawai‘i voters about which of these individuals may be best suited to help protect our environment. HB2416 HD2 could put an end to this public service, by requiring 501(c)(4) organizations like the Sierra Club to not only disclose the personal information of donors who would like to support our endorsement activities, but also comply with cost- and time-prohibitive record keeping and donor confirmation requirements. Curiously, other organizations that engage in endorsement and electioneering activities — including chambers of commerce, unions, and corporation-funded PACs and SuperPACs — are not targeted by this measure purportedly intended to reduce the influence of “dark money” in politics. This bill has already passed all of its standing committee hearings, but concerned citizens can still contact the conference committee members for this measure after second crossover, once the members are appointed.
Supermajority slate of BLNR members poised for confirmation
Five individuals nominated for the Board of Land and Natural Resources are pending a confirmation vote by the full Senate, after being recommended for approval by the Senate Water and Land Committee. These five nominees, all put forward by outgoing Governor Ige, will comprise a supermajority of the BLNR for the next few years. Notably, the BLNR may be rendering some major decisions in the near future, including with regards to a new potential master lease for Maunakea, the potential reissuance of military leases slated to end in 2029, long-term licenses to divert streams for decades at a time, the issuance of aquarium collection permits and 40-year commercial and industrial lease extensions for our most lucrative public lands. Watch these nomineesʻ responses to Water and Land Committee members here and here, and ask your Senator to carefully consider their vote on these individuals when they are scheduled for confirmation.
PUC nominee concerns
Governor Ige’s nominee to the Public Utilities Commission has drawn considerable attention over the past week, given her long work history of representing developer and corporate utility interests, including the entities that the PUC is tasked with regulating. Of particular concern is whether the nominee will understand the need to uplift environmental justice concerns and the need for community consultation and buy-in as critical components of our transition to renewable energy. The Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee will be considering this nomination in a public hearing, likely to be scheduled soon.
Bills to #ShutDownRedHill
Two bills, HB2514 HD1 SD1 and SB2600 SD2 HD1, could, as currently drafted, prohibit the operation of the Red Hill Fuel Facility and others like it as early as next year, as a matter of Hawaiʻi law. If either pass, the Navy will have to accept that its continued foot-dragging will do it no good, even if the Pentagon changes its position that the Red Hill Facility must be shut down. Be sure to sign up for our Red Hill e-mail list for updates and alerts on actions you can take to help get these measures passed!
Watershed protection funding in jeopardy
Amendments to the Supplemental Appropriations Bill, HB1600 HD1, have zeroed out $4M in funding allocated last year for fencing needed to protect critical watershed areas from continued degradation by invasive species. This could not only result in the loss of millions of dollars in federal funding, but further delay the goal of protecting 30% of priority watershed forests by 2030. Protecting our watersheds will increase the recharge of our drinking water aquifers, prevent the further loss and extinction of native species, reduce runoff and its impacts on our streams and coastal areas and mitigate flooding events that could cause millions of dollars in damage and displace entire communities. The Senate Ways and Means Committee will be deciding on additional amendments to this bill as early as April 5; be sure to reach out to Committee members to voice your concerns about the need for more, not less, investments in the integrity of our watersheds.
Watersheds, native habitat on “pasture” lands at risk
The longstanding conflict between ranchers, environmentalists, and cultural practitioners has taken another turn after the Senate Water and Land Committee amended HB1658 HD1 SD1 to effectively force the transfer of tens of thousands of acres of “pasture” lands from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to the Department of Agriculture. This would prevent the DLNR from applying its public trust duties as well as its institutional capacity and expertise to protect the myriad public interests in these lands, much of which are remnant native forests untouched by industrial agriculture and which are all adjacent to sensitive watersheds that are critical for aquifer recharge and native species habitat. The Senate Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees must hear and pass this amended draft to keep the bill alive; to help defeat this measure, be sure to reach out to Committee members and testify in opposition at any scheduled public hearing on this bill.
These are just some of the dozens of measures still in play at the capitol. For continued up-to-date information on these and other bills of note, please be sure to visit our CapitolWatch website and follow us on Twitter (@sierraclubhi), Facebook (@sierraclubhawaii), and Instagram (@sierraclubhi).