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REPORT OF THE <br /> COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT <br /> DATE: July 24, 2018 Re: Comm. No. 941/Bill No. 154 <br /> PLACE: Council Chambers <br /> Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i <br /> TIME: 10:47 a.m. <br /> Council Chair and Members <br /> Hawai`i County Council <br /> Hilo, Hawaii 96720 <br /> Your Committee on Environmental Management, to which was referred Bill No. 154, reports as <br /> follows: <br /> Bill No. 154, transmitted by Council Member Eileen O'Hara, via Communication No. 941, dated <br /> May 14, 2018, amends Chapter 20, Article 3, Section 20-31, by adding new definitions and <br /> section 20-38, of the Hawai`i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended) by renaming, <br /> amending and adding new subsections and subparagraphs, to expand the authority of the <br /> Department of Environmental Management to remove abandoned vehicles from certain private <br /> roadways in the interest of public health and safety. <br /> On May 21, 2018, Bill No. 154 was discussed in your Environmental Management Committee <br /> and was approved with a recommendation of its passage on first reading. On May 22, 2018, Bill <br /> No. 154 was forwarded to the Director of the Department of Environmental Management and to <br /> the Environmental Management Commission for their comments and recommendations, <br /> pursuant to Section 2-207, Hawai`i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended). <br /> On June 28, 2018, the Environmental Management Commission, through its Chair, Richard <br /> Bennett, Ph.D., sent a communication to Council Chair Poindexter in full support of the bill and <br /> recommended "that the rules the Department of Environmental Management promulgates <br /> contain a component that educates the public on the procedures for reporting abandoned <br /> vehicles" <br /> On July 2, 2018, Director Kucharski sent a communication to Chair Poindexter in support of the <br /> bill and in emails with Council Member O'Hara that followed, the director also recommended an <br /> amendment that would require the "director" and not the department's Derelict and Abandoned <br /> Vehicle Coordinator to determine areas that are unsafe for tow trucks and for the "director"to <br /> base all decisions to tow, subject to their discretion and not that of the department's Derelict and <br /> Abandoned Vehicle Coordinator. <br /> On July 24, 2018, Bill No. 154, responses from the Director of the Department of Environmental <br /> Management and the Environmental Managements Commission, through its Chair, Mr. Bennett, <br /> as well as Communication No. 941.5, by Ms. O'Hara amending Bill No. 154, were discussed in <br /> your committee. There were six testifiers from the public who all spoke in support of Bill <br /> No. 154. Committee Chair O'Hara relinquished chairmanship of the committee to Council <br /> EMC Report No. 6 <br />