(a) The greenhouse gas sequestration task force is established within the office of planning and sustainable development for administrative purposes only. The task force shall have the following objectives:

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 225P-4

  • Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
  • Commission: means the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 225P-2
  • county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
  • Sequester: To separate. Sometimes juries are sequestered from outside influences during their deliberations.
(1) Work with public and private stakeholders to establish a baseline for greenhouse gas emissions within Hawaii and short- and long-term benchmarks for increasing greenhouse gas sequestration in the State’s agricultural and natural environment;
(2) Identify appropriate criteria to measure baseline levels and increases in greenhouse gas sequestration, improvements in soil health, increases in agricultural and aquacultural product yield and quality attributable to greenhouse gas sequestration and improvements in soil health, and other key indicators of greenhouse gas benefits from beneficial agricultural and aquacultural practices that may be used to create a certification program for promoting agricultural and aquacultural practices that generate greenhouse gas benefits and agricultural and aquacultural production benefits;
(3) Identify land and marine use policies, agricultural policies, agroforestry policies, and mitigation options that would encourage agricultural and aquacultural practices and land use practices that would promote increased greenhouse gas sequestration, build healthy soils, and provide greenhouse gas benefits;
(4) Identify ways to increase the generation and use of compost in Hawaii to build healthy soils;
(5) Identify practices and policies that add trees or vegetation to expand the urban tree canopy in urban areas to reduce ambient temperatures, increase climate resiliency, and improve greenhouse gas sequestration in Hawaii; and
(6) Make recommendations to the legislature and governor regarding measures that would increase climate resiliency, build healthy soils, provide greenhouse gas benefits, or cool urban areas.
(b) In addition to the objectives listed in subsection (a), the task force may consider:

(1) Developing incentives and funding mechanisms for these incentives, including but not limited to:

(A) Loans, tax credits, or grants;
(B) Research;
(C) Technical assistance; or
(D) Educational materials and outreach, to participating agricultural activities, aquacultural activities, or on-farm demonstration projects that are identified and approved by the task force as those that would promote greenhouse gas benefits, build healthy soils, sequester carbon, increase water-holding capacity, and increase crop yields; and
(2) Providing for research, education, and technical support for agricultural activities and aquacultural activities identified by the task force.
(c) The membership of the greenhouse gas sequestration task force shall be as follows:

(1) The director of the office of planning and sustainable development or the director’s designee, who shall serve as chairperson;
(2) The chairperson of the board of agriculture or the chairperson’s designee;
(3) The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources or the chairperson’s designee;
(4) The director of transportation or the director’s designee;
(5) The deputy director of the department of health’s environmental health administration or the deputy director’s designee;
(6) The state sustainability coordinator;
(7) The director of the environmental law program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson school of law;
(8) The administrator of the division of forestry and wildlife within the department of land and natural resources or the administrator’s designee;
(9) One member who is also a member of the climate change mitigation and adaptation commission;
(10) One researcher from the college of tropical agriculture and human resources at the University of Hawaii at Manoa;
(11) One extension agent from the college of tropical agriculture and human resources at the University of Hawaii at Manoa;
(12) Four members, one each to be appointed by the respective mayors of the city and county of Honolulu, and the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui; and
(13) Four members to be jointly selected and invited to participate by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives, of which two members shall be selected from an environmental nonprofit organization, and two members shall be selected from an agricultural or ranching association.

Task force members may recommend to the task force additional members with appropriate specialized expertise, subject to approval by the chairperson.

(d) Members of the task force shall be nominated and appointed pursuant to, and subject to § 26-34 and shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for reasonable expenses necessary for the performance of their duties, including travel expenses.
(e) The greenhouse gas sequestration task force shall:

(1) Submit a preliminary report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature and the climate change mitigation and adaptation commission no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2023; provided that the preliminary report shall discuss the objectives and issues listed in subsections (a) and (b), including the following:

(A) Types of agricultural and aquacultural practices, public land and marine use policies, and on-farm managing practices that would provide greenhouse gas benefits and result in tangible economic benefits to agricultural and aquacultural operations;
(B) Short-term and long-term benchmarks that would indicate how effectively agricultural and aquacultural activities have been helping the State to reach greenhouse gas neutrality;
(C) Appropriate criteria that may be used in a certification program to measure baseline levels and increases in carbon sequestration, improvements in soil health, and other key indicators of greenhouse gas benefits from beneficial agricultural and aquacultural practices;
(D) Types of incentives, grants, research, and assistance that would promote:

(i) Agricultural and aquacultural practices to produce greenhouse gas benefits; and
(ii) Land and marine use policies and agricultural policies that would encourage agricultural, aquacultural, and land use practices to provide greenhouse gas benefits and result in tangible economic benefits to agricultural and aquacultural operations; and
(E) Practices and policies that add trees or vegetation to expand the urban tree canopy in urban areas to reduce ambient temperatures and increase climate resiliency and improve greenhouse gas sequestration in Hawaii; and
(2) Beginning with the regular session of 2024, submit an annual report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature and the climate change mitigation and adaptation commission no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session.
(f) The office of planning and sustainable development shall provide administrative and clerical support required by the task force.

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