STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1095

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1608

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1608 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to create an emergency power for the Governor and the Director of Transportation to exercise upon a determination that a substantial endangerment to public health and safety is or will be caused by the temporary closure of, or the lack of access to, an area by a state highway, which requires immediate action.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation; Lahaina Bypass.com; Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc.; and one individual.  Comments were received from the State Procurement Office and the Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii.

     Your Committee finds that severe incidents on the highways caused by traffic accidents and natural disasters have had a major impact on the provision of access for motorists to communities.  The emergency power would allow the Governor or the Director of Transportation to designate the area to be a traffic emergency zone and allow the taking of any action that may be necessary, without public hearing in the interests of expediency, until access to the designated area has been established.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Providing the county mayors and county directors of transportation with the same emergency powers with regard to county highways and streets;

     (2)  Adding a qualified immunity for a claim for negligence in the design, construction, repair, and correction of work performed; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1608, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1608, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and International Affairs,

____________________________

J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair