Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water, Land, and Agriculture and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 3056, H.D. 2, entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to transfer jurisdiction of Kawai Nui Marsh from the City and County of Honolulu to the State.

Both the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Design and Construction submitted testimony that suggested amendments to this measure. Specifically, your Committees noted that the Department of Land and Natural Resources testified that its expertise and experience lies in wildlife habitat and restoration and management of the natural and cultural resources in the marsh. Thus, the Department of Land and Natural Resources believes that the responsibility to maintain and operate the Kawai Nui Marsh flood control project, which includes the levee and the Oneawa Canal, should remain with the City and County of Honolulu.

However, the City and County of Honolulu in its testimony represents that the legislation enacted sixteen years ago envisioned the entire marsh, including the flood control improvements, would be managed and preserved by the State. The City and County believes that it has made the necessary improvements to the flood control measures in the marsh, and the federal government, including both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers, is prepared to work with the State. Thus, the City and County believes that further maintenance and operation of flood control measures is not the City and County's long-term responsibility; however, the City and County also states that it is willing to continue maintaining the Kawai Nui Marsh flood control project under an agreement with the State.

Your Committees find that Act 314, Session Laws of Hawaii 1990, directed the transfer of a parcel from the City and County of Honolulu to the State. That parcel encompassed the bulk of Kawai Nui Marsh. However, there are portions of the wetland ecosystem at the Kawai Nui Marsh that the City and County of Honolulu and the State own separately.

Your Committees find that this "shared" ownership approach, by both the State and the City and County of Honolulu, has led to disputes over their respective management responsibilities of Kawai Nui Marsh. Your Committees further find that these disputes have delayed restoration and rehabilitation of the marsh, jeopardizing its native wildlife population and overall well being. This measure:

Your Committees note that under section 46-1.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), the county has the general power to use appropriate measures to protect the general public against floods and flood water. Under section 46-11.5, HRS, counties are specifically tasked with the maintenance of, among other things, drainageways. However, section 46-11.5 has a caveat that precludes the counties from maintaining those drainageways that are privately owned or owned by the State.

Currently, the Department of Land and Natural Resources would like the City and County of Honolulu to be tasked with flood control and prevention, and the Kawai Nui Marsh is a drainageway that may be entirely owned by the State. Based on this, your Committees finds that a better understanding of these two sections is necessary to determine appropriate responsibilities over the marsh. Your Committees believe that the responsibilities that this measure distributes need to be clear and concise, as all interested parties will look to it for guidance in the future.

Your Committees have amended this measure by inserting the effective date of July 1, 2050 to ensure further discussion on the issues noted above.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, and Agriculture and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 3056, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 3056, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.