REP AWEEMC 008 2019/09/03 2018-2020

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REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,WATER, ENERGY,AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT DATE: September 3, 2019 Re: Comm.No. 353/Bill No. 88 PLACE: Council Chambers Hilo, Hawaii TIME: 11:32 a.m. Council Chair and Members Hawaii County Council Hilo,Hawaii 96720 Your Committee on Agriculture, Water, Energy, and Environmental Management(AWEEM),to which was referred Bill No. 88,reports as follows: Bill No. 88,transmitted by Council Member Villegas via Communication No. 353 dated July 5, 2019, is a proposed amendment relating to the definition of"public property". Discussion was on the importance of the definition change to include real property, owned by the State of Hawaii and Federal Government relating to the removal of abandoned vehicles. William Kucharski, Director of the Department of Environmental Management(DEM) shared that when Council passed Bill 154,Draft 2, allowing DEM to tow abandoned vehicles from private property,the definition was inadvertently edited to read "public property means all real property owned by the County",when the intention of Hawaii Revised Statutes § 290-1 includes the verbiage of public highway or other public property or private lands. Therefore,Bill No. 88 clarifies this definition by adding"or State of Hawaii, or the Federal government"to Section 20-31 of the County Code. On July 23, 2019, Director Kucharski noted that the verbiage amendment should not add any additional cost burden to the County, since it was a task already being performed by DEM. Additionally, Corporation Counsel Joseph Kamelamela then confirmed the requirement to obtain the recommendation of said bill by the Environmental Management Commission(EMC). Communication 353.1 from Director Kucharski dated July 25, 2019 provided his support of Bill No. 88. Communication 353.2 from Richard Bennett, Chair of the Environmental Management Commission dated July 24, 2019 noted a unanimous recommendation of the adoption of Bill No. 88 by the commission. AWEEMC Report No.: 8