STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2837

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2154

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2154, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA USE PERMITS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to temporarily exempt from the special management area minor permit or special management area use permit requirements, airport development that is necessary to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations.  

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, State Office of Planning, Building Industry Association of Hawaii, General Contractors Association of Hawaii, and The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was received from Hawaii's Thousand Friends, Sierra Club, and six individuals.

     Your Committee finds that securing special management area minor or use permits can be time consuming and delay projects from going to construction when funding has been obtained and procurement has been completed.  The Department of Transportation requires the authority provided by this measure to plan, design, and construct airports, subject to the Hawaii coastal zone management program federal consistency review, without sacrificing special controls on developments within an area along the shoreline.  This measure will help the Department of Transportation to complete projects more quickly while ensuring compliance with Federal Aviation Administration regulations concerning requirements such as airfield safety.  This measure also assists the Department to receive discretionary grants which are based on timely expenditure performance.

     By recommending the temporary exemption pursuant to this measure, your Committee's intent is not to allow or condone permanent loss of valuable coastal and ocean resources. 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the sunset date to June 30, 2015, to allow the Office of Planning, at the Administration's direction, to complete work on an alternative process to special management area permitting for state projects that will be consistent with the coastal zone management program.

According to testimony, recommendations for alternative processes, in consultation with state agencies, will be completed before the next legislative session.  If alternative processes are approved, your Committee requests the Department of Transportation to follow those processes in lieu of the temporary exemption under this measure, assuming those alternative processes protect valuable coastal and ocean resources.  Since the alternative processes are hypothetical at this time, reference to such procedures have not been be inserted into this measure.

     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. 2154, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2154, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Water, Land, and Housing.

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

____________________________

J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair