STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2370

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2852

       S.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 Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2852 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AQUATIC RESOURCE VIOLATIONS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide for transformative administrative penalty alternatives, and for an enhanced collection mechanism for outstanding fines and penalties resulting from aquatic resource violations.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy, Malama Pupukea-Waimea, Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, and one individual.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Nearshore Fishermen and one individual.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the City and County of Honolulu Department of Customer Services.

     Your Committees find that this measure will provide the Department of Land and Natural Resources with the authority to impose natural resource related community service for aquatic resource violations.  This measure will also provide the Department of Land and Natural Resources with a mechanism to encourage timely payment of administrative fines and performance of community service through the revocation or suspension of a violator's driver's license privileges administered through the county examiners of drivers. 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Requiring the Board of Land and Natural Resources to provide a violator's social security number or driver's license number to the county examiner of drivers; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, and Housing and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2852, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2852, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water, Land, and Housing and Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair

____________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair