STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO.2755

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 2231

S.D. 1

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2231 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO KAHO'OLAWE ISLAND RESERVE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a process in which the State can provide both meaningful and legally adequate warnings to the public regarding the access and use of Kaho'olawe and its surrounding waters.

Testimony in support of the measure was received from the Kaho'olawe Island Researve Commission (Commission) and a private individual. Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii testified in opposition to portions of the bill.

This measure establishes a Task Force on Warning Signs and Devices and a process by which the State is protected from liability, so long as adequate warning is provided to the public through the design and placement of warning signs on Kaho'olawe.

Your Committee finds that Kaho'olawe and its surrounding waters continue to contain hazards from residual unexploded ordnance, and natural conditions similar to the other Hawaiian islands. Persons accessing Kaho'olawe and its surrounding waters are exposed to these hazardous conditions. Your Committee also finds that in advance of the 2003 transfer of Kaho`olawe from the federal government to the State, it is necessary to put measures in place that establish a balance between the public’s access and use of Kaho'olawe and the government’s duty to provide adequate warning.

This measure would provide a process by which a legally adequate warning system can be developed for Kaho'olawe and its surrounding waters, thereby increasing public safety and reducing the potential for unexploded ordnance related accidents.

Your Committee has amended this measure on the recommendation of the Commission by:

(1) Substituting "dangers posed by unexploded ordnance" for "potentially dangerous conditions";

(2) Deleting reference to the State's duty to warn of dangerous natural conditions and the conclusive presumption of signs and warning devices posted thereto;

(3) Requiring that the Task Force submit a report of its recommendations to the Commission by March 1, 2003; and

(4) Making the effective date of the conclusive presumption of the State's duty to warn of unexploded ordnance, upon the transfer of access control from the Navy to the State.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2231, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2231, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

		____________________________ BRIAN KANNO, Chair