HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	439
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to land use planning.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Farmers are required to have an approved conservation plan to be in compliance with local grading and grubbing ordinances and to access various federal Farm Bill funding programs. However, the number of individuals in Hawaii qualified to write conservation plans is insufficient to meet the need. This shortage of qualified individuals can leave many Hawaii farmers, who may run relatively small operations compared to those on the mainland, waiting two to four years to receive a conservation plan. Without an approved conservation plan, farmers are technically out of compliance with local regulations, leaving them vulnerable to significant penalties.

Data from fiscal year 2013 indicates that just one hundred seventy new conservation plans were developed in Hawaii, which represents approximately 2.5 per cent of the seven thousand farms operating in the State. The vast majority of Hawaii farmers do not have any conservation plan in place; it is likely that most of them are small agricultural producers. The application assistance program created by this Act will help the Hawaii farmers who do not have a conservation plan to obtain one.

The current conservation-plan application system is available only to employees of the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture and to individuals working from local Natural Resources Conservation Service offices. The national Natural Resources Conservation Service policy prioritizes applications from farms seeking federal Farm Bill funding. Because very few Hawaii farmers seek such assistance, it is estimated that about 98 per cent of Hawaii farms lack ready access to this federal resource and are thus unable to obtain a conservation plan in a timely manner.

The state of Idaho developed an online program called the Idaho OnePlan, which provides data and software to help agricultural producers develop a single conservation plan that can be pre-endorsed by state and federal regulatory agencies to ensure that farmers are in compliance with applicable regulations and are eligible for available financial-assistance programs. The purpose of this Act is to create a similar, user-based data and software initiative, to be called Hawaii One, for this State's agricultural producers.

An online interface will save both time and resources for all parties involved in the development and approval of conservation plans. For conservation-plan applicants, the wait time to process a conservation plan would be reduced substantially. A full and comprehensive conservation plan currently requires approximately fifty hours of staff time to analyze. For a conservation plan that incorporates standardized data and form, such as one developed under the Idaho OnePlan or a similar model, the amount of time needed by technical staff to process the application could be reduced to an estimated fifteen hours. The combination of a focused and streamlined Hawaii One application system will greatly reduce processing time and allow Hawaii farmers to more readily obtain an approved conservation plan.

The anticipated design of Hawaii One incorporates a series of modules to allow an applicant to access data and software for as many or as few plan areas as necessary to meet each farmer's planning needs. The current implementation model calls for an initial offering of a soil-erosion module and the eventual addition of further planning modules for plan areas, such as wildlife or pesticide management.

The department of agriculture and department of land and natural resources have taken steps in the past to develop an online conservation plan application system. However, insufficient access to server space and funding cuts for both agencies caused by the recession in 2008 brought that initiative to an end. The department of agriculture now has the capacity to house a host server, if necessary, and interested non-governmental organizations have obtained financial and in-kind support from local partners. These resources are sufficient to form the basis of a public-private partnership to successfully develop and deliver Hawaii One.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $70,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2015-2016 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2016-2017 for the department of agriculture to implement and operate the Hawaii One program to allow agricultural producers to develop conservation plans online.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of agriculture for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2015.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________