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COUNTY OF HAWAII :•f6�'-' ''/ •` STATE OF HAWAII RESOLUTION NO. 42 13 A RESOLUTION TO STRONGLY URGE THE 2013 HAWAII STATE LEGISLATURE TO REPEAL ACT 97 OF 2012 IN ITS ENTIRETY, RELATING TO GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES. WHEREAS, the Hawai`i County Council supports energy sustainability in the State and County of Hawai`i; and WHEREAS, in 1983, the Hawai`i State Legislature enacted Act 296, known as the Geothermal Resource Subzone Assessment and Designation Law, which contained two significant parts: (1) creation of geothermal resource subzones, and(2) granting counties the authority over geothermal permitting; and WHEREAS, Act 296, Section 1, states, "The legislature finds that the development and exploration of Hawaii's geothermal resources is of statewide concern, and that this interest must be balanced with interests in preserving Hawaii's unique social and natural environment. The purpose of this Act is to provide a policy that will assist in the location of geothermal resources development in areas of the lowest potential environmental impact."; and WHEREAS, Act 97, signed into law by the Honorable Governor Neil Abercrombie on April 30, 2012, does the following: (1) amends Chapter 182, Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS), relating to mining, giving the Board of Land and Natural Resources authority to issue permits for geothermal exploration, (2) amends Chapter 183C, HRS, relating to conservation districts, to permit geothermal activity in all conservation district zones, and (3) amends Chapter 205, HRS, by repealing Sections 205-5.1 and 205-5.2 that were created by Act 296, relating to geothermal resource subzone provisions, county permitting, and designating geothermal exploration and development as permissible uses in all four major land use districts; and WHEREAS, repealed Subsection 205-5.1(e) states in part that"The appropriate county authority shall grant a geothermal resource permit if it finds that applicant has demonstrated that: (1) The desired uses would not have unreasonable adverse health, environmental, or socio-economic effects on residents or surrounding property; (2) The desired uses would not unreasonably burden public agencies to provide roads and streets, sewers, water, drainage, school improvements, and police and fire protection; and (3) That there are reasonable measures available to mitigate the unreasonable adverse effects or burdens referred to above."; and WHEREAS, repealed Subsection 205-5.2(a) states in part that "Beginning in 1983, the board of land and natural resources shall conduct a county-by-county assessment of areas with