Bill Text: HI SCR22 | 2023 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Business, Economic Development, And Tourism To Promote The Use Of Albizia In Commercial Products By Establishing A Grant Program And Conducting A Study.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-28 - The committee on EET deferred the measure. [SCR22 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2023-SCR22-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	22
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of business, economic DEVELOPMENT, and tourism to promote the use of albizia in commercial products by establishing a grant program and conducting a study.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the albizia tree is an invasive species that can grow up to one hundred fifty feet tall; and

 

     WHEREAS, albizia trees can grow in nutrient-deficient soils, produce large quantities of wind-dispersed seeds, and grow at a very rapid rate, gaining up to fifteen feet in height each year; and

 

     WHEREAS, albizia trees can very quickly disrupt and replace native ecosystems and can easily take over a cleared area in just a few years; and

 

     WHEREAS, albizia trees have very brittle trunks and limbs that are structurally weak and prone to "sudden limb shear", a phenomenon in which live branches collapse without warning or apparent cause; and

 

     WHEREAS, branch collapses can occur even if a tree appears to be healthy; and

 

     WHEREAS, the phenomenon of "sudden limb shear", combined with the albizia tree's large size and fast growth, gives the tree the potential to cause major damage to property, infrastructure, and human life; and

 

     WHEREAS, as a result, state and county agencies and utility companies must constantly remove albizia trees; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are currently few beneficial uses for removed albizia trees; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2018, a former University of Hawaii student led a team that successfully constructed a full-size prototype single-family home built from albizia wood, demonstrating that albizia could be used as a locally sourced building material; and

 

     WHEREAS, the team conducting the project indicated that there remained questions about whether the use of albizia wood for construction was economically feasible and whether builders could achieve economies of scale using the wood; and

 

     WHEREAS, if questions like these could be answered, the State could turn its overabundance of albizia trees into an economic opportunity; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to establish a grant program to assist persons who:

 

     (1)  Use albizia trees to create usable commercial products; or

 

     (2)  Are developing new ways of using albizia trees to create usable commercial products; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to study economically feasible ways in which businesses may use albizia trees to produce usable commercial products, including housing, throughout the State; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in conducting the study, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to consult with the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and University of Hawaii School of Architecture; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2024; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Dean of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources of the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and Dean of the School of Architecture of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Albizia; Commercial Products; DBEDT; Grant Program; Study