STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2153

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2920

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2920 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to exempt drivers of vehicles traveling on an inter-island ferry from certain vehicle identification requirements; provided that the inter-island ferry carrier shall keep a record of transporting the vehicle by recording the vehicle identification number and retaining the information for three years after the date of travel.

     Testimony in support of this measure was received from Hawaii Superferry and Horizon Lines, LLC.

     Your Committee finds that this measure will simplify the documentation needed to travel on an inter-island ferry with a vehicle, particularly if the person driving the vehicle is not the owner.

     Your Committee has also heard a request to expand the scope of the bill to include an exemption from scaling for inter-pier transfers for containers bound for the neighbor islands.  Neighbor island bound containers originate from the West Coast, arrive on ocean carriers at the container terminals on Sand Island in Honolulu Harbor, and are then transferred to the inter-island barges for final delivery to the neighbor islands.

     In order to make the connection to these neighbor island barges, hundreds of containers must be transferred in a matter of four to five hours.  Requiring these containers to be scaled often puts the retailers, merchants, and consumers on the neighbor islands in the position of having the delivery of their cargo severely delayed.

     Your Committee also finds that scaling uncovers very few infractions and of the containers that have been in violation, none have been more than five per cent over weight, with most averaging two per cent over weight.  Furthermore, ocean carriers with their own barge service can simply transfer their neighbor island bound containers within their piers, without having to be scaled.  This creates a huge competitive disparity for ocean carriers solely dependant on a third party barge for handling their neighbor island bound containers.

     Your Committee has amended this measure accordingly, by:

     (1)  Adding a new subsection to section 291-36, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to exempt from scaling any vehicle or combination of vehicles used in transshipping neighbor island bound cargo directly between piers in Honolulu Harbor, or any activities limited to crossing a public road, street, or highway within the State at locations approved by the Director of Transportation, in the case of state highways, or the county engineer, in the case of county roads and streets; and

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment.

     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 S.B. No. 2920, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2920, 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