STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2874

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2613

       H.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Water, Land, and Housing and Transportation and International Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2613, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to exempt work involving submerged lands used for state commercial harbor purposes from any permitting and site plan approval requirements under chapter 183C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for lands in a conservation district.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation.  Testimony in opposition was received from the Hawaii Historic Foundation, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, The Outdoor Circle, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Friends of Lanai, and twenty-five individuals.  The Building Industry Association of Hawaii submitted comments.

     Your Committees find that environmental protection oversight of state commercial harbors is already sufficiently provided through several authorities including the state environmental impact statements law and permit requirements by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the Clean Water Act.  Additional permitting and site plan approval requirements are unnecessary given these existing safeguards.  This measure will streamline the process to implement harbor projects to meet the growing needs of the maritime industry.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, and Housing and Transportation and International Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2613, H.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water, Land, and Housing and Transportation and International Affairs,

____________________________ J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair

____________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair