Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 2309, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, entitled:

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit the operation of ocean watercraft more than a mile from shore unless the vessel is equipped with either a VHF-FM radio or an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB).

Your Committee on Conference finds that recreational boaters are often in grave danger when their vessel becomes disabled or lost at sea. Although Hawaii's marine rescue personnel, including the United States Coast Guard personnel stationed here, are extremely skilled at locating and rescuing lost boaters, rescue efforts are immeasurably more difficult when the vessel operators do not carry a device to notify rescue personnel of their location.

Moreover, search and rescue efforts are extremely costly, and the longer a search and rescue operation takes, the greater the cost to the State. Therefore, your Committee on Conference agrees with the intent of this measure.

Your Committee on Conference amended this measure to reinstate the provisions of the S.D. 1 version, which contained technical language differences from the H.D. 2 version with regard to the vessels covered by this measure.

Your Committee on Conference further amended this measure to fully exempt all canoes, jet skis, surfboards, and paddleboards. As amended, users of kayaks and training sailboats must carry a VHF-FM radio or EPIRB when operating more than a mile from shore, unless accompanied by a vessel that carries such a device.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2309, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2309, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.