STAND. COM. REP. 788
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: H.B. No. 1214
H.D. 2
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2003
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1214, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC LAND LIABILITY,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill, as introduced, is to establish a process through which the state and counties are protected from liability arising from the public's use of improved and unimproved public lands.
The Attorney General, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Office of the County Attorney of the County of Hawaii, Downhill Hawaii, Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, and several concerned individuals testified in support of this measure. The Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii testified in opposition to this bill.
Your Committee finds it crucial to protect the public's active enjoyment of Hawaii's scenery and natural resources.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Limiting its application to "improved public lands;"
(2) Deleting provisions about the absence of the state or county's duty to warn of dangerous natural conditions on unimproved public lands, and about warnings on unimproved lands;
(3) Deleting definitions of "lands" and "unimproved lands;"
(4) Adding a definition of "public entity;"
(5) Requiring rather than authorizing the risk assessment group to seek public comment on the comprehensive plan for warning of dangerous natural conditions;
(6) Allowing the presumption that a sign, device, or other system is legally adequate warning, to continue for seven days from the time that the public entity discovers the vandalism, removal or illegibility of a warning system located near the public entrance to the area to which the warning applies;
(7) Adding a person knowledgeable in warning sign design to the risk assessment working group; and
(8) Providing an effective date of July 1, 2050, to ensure continued discussion.
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 H.B. No. 1214, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1214, H.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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____________________________ ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair |
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