STAND. COM. REP. 735

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 1261

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. 1261, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of the bill is to allow counties to impose an actionable duty on owners of private property, on which there is a potential danger of falling rocks, to inspect and remove those rocks or otherwise mitigate any unreasonable danger to persons or property.

A concerned citizen supported this bill. The County of Kauai, City and County of Honolulu, and the City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting opposed this measure. A councilmember of the Honolulu City Council and the Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii offered comments.

Your Committee finds that the counties should be able to clarify the duty of private landowners to protect people and property from falling rocks.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Changing the effective date to February 31, 2050, to promote further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of style and clarity, including amending the purpose section to more accurately reflect the substantive provisions of the bill.

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. 1261, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1261, H.D. 2.

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

 

____________________________

ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair