SECTION 1. Farmers are required to have an approved conservation plan in order to access federal farm bill funds and to be in compliance with local grading/grubbing ordinances. However, the number of people qualified to write conservation plans in Hawaii is not sufficient to meet the demand. This can leave many Hawaii farmers, who may have relatively small operations as compared to 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 subject to significant penalties if those rules are enforced.

Data from the 2013-2014 fiscal year indicates that just one hundred seventy new conservation plans were developed in Hawaii, accounting for roughly 2.5 per cent of the seven thousand farms operating in the State. Based on a five-year effective period, just 12.5 per cent of the State's farms have a current conservation plan. Furthermore, larger landowners are more likely to have a conservation plan; the 12.5 per cent of farms with conservation plans control approximately forty per cent of agricultural acres in Hawaii.

The current conservation plan application system is available only to United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) employees and individuals working from local NRCS offices. The national NRCS policy prioritizes applications from farms seeking federal farm bill funding. A limited number of farmers, roughly one hundred forty, actively seek federal funding in any given year, resulting in ninety-eight per cent of Hawaii farms with limited planning support unable to obtain a conservation plan in a timely manner.

The development of an online interface for farmers and other agricultural professionals to input much of the data for a conservation plan will save time and money for all parties involved. The State of Idaho developed a similar online program for conservation plans called the Idaho One Plan.

The legislature finds that Hawaii could benefit from a similar program, to be called the "Hawaii one program".

If such a program is implemented, the wait time to process a conservation plan would be reduced substantially. A full and comprehensive conservation plan, which currently requires approximately fifty hours of staff time to analyze, could be built modularly, thereby giving basic plans to those that need it or more comprehensive plans to other farms that require it. If the Hawaii one program is successful in setting up and rolling out the basic foundational pieces, focused primarily on soil erosion measures, the amount of technical staff time needed to process the application can be reduced to an estimated fifteen hours. Furthermore, through the creation of a focused and streamlined Hawaii one program conservation plan application system, farmers should be more likely to participate in obtaining a conservation plan. The Hawaii one program will help the roughly 87.5 per cent of farmers, farming sixty per cent of agricultural land, who do not have a conservation plan to obtain one.

The Hawaii one program would be based on existing standards and practices for soil conservation. The goal for the Hawaii one program is to build the software modularly with the potential to add topics like wildlife and pesticide management in the future.

Previously, there was progress between the department of agriculture and department of land and natural resources to develop an online conservation application; however, sufficient access to server space became an issue, and the subsequent recession of 2008 created funding cuts for both departments. The department of agriculture now has the capacity to house a host server, if required. Other non-governmental organizations have garnered financial and in-kind support from local partners, which could be used to complete the fundraising needed to develop and deliver the Hawaii one plan.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Provide for the establishment and encouragement of the Hawaii one plan as a primary computer-based conservation planning process for all natural resource concerns to be accomplished through a steering committee containing private and state representation and inviting federal representation;

(2) Deem the information provided by those using the Hawaii one plan to be trade secrets, production records, or other proprietary information and keep the information confidential and exempt from disclosure; and

(3) Appropriate funds for the implementation and operation of the Hawaii one plan program to provide conservation plans online.

SECTION 2. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to title 11 to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Chapter

HAWAII ONE PLAN

§ ‑1 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:

"Department" means the department of agriculture.

"Hawaii one plan" means a primary computer-based soil and water conservation plan application system for farmers and other agricultural professionals.

"Steering committee" means the Hawaii one plan steering committee.

§ ‑2 Hawaii one plan steering committee; established. (a) There is established the Hawaii one plan steering committee within the department for administrative purposes. The purpose of the steering committee shall be to assist with the design of the Hawaii one plan, identify the appropriate location to host the Hawaii one plan's server, and implement the Hawaii one plan.

(b) The steering committee shall:

(1) Consist of the following members:

(A) The executive director of the Hawaii Association of Conservation Districts or the executive director's designee, who shall serve as chair of the steering committee;

(B) The executive director of the Oahu Resource Conservation and Development Council or the executive director's designee;

(D) The chairperson of the board of agriculture or the chairperson's designee; and

(2) Invite the following individuals to become members:

(A) The president of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation or the president's designee;

(B) The president of the Hawaii Farmers Union United or the president's designee;

(D) The president of the Hawaii Cattleman's Council or the president's designee;

(E) Three representatives of the farming community to be chosen by the executive director of the Hawaii Association of Conservation Districts; and

(F) Members of the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

(c) The steering committee's members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, necessary for the performance of their duties.

(d) In the performance of its duties, the steering committee shall consult with appropriate private, nonprofit, community, and government stakeholders.

§ ‑3 Proprietary information; confidentiality. The information provided by a user of the Hawaii one plan shall be deemed to be trade secrets, production records, or other proprietary information and shall be confidential and exempt from disclosure pursuant to chapter 92F."

SECTION 3. The Hawaii one plan steering committee shall submit a report of the funding status and implementation progress of the Hawaii one plan to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2016.

The steering committee shall also submit a follow-up report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2017.

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2015-2016 for implementation and operation of the Hawaii one plan program to provide conservation plans online.

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

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	512
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015		S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII