HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	143
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration TO EXEMPT CERTAIN CORAL SPECIES IN ALL STATE WATERS, PARTICULARLY COMMERCIAL HARBORS, FROM RECLASSIFICATION UNDER A PROPOSED FEDERAL RULE CHANGE.

     WHEREAS, the geographic isolation of the State of Hawaii results in its residents' crucial dependence on ocean surface transportation for the importing of goods through the State's commercial harbors; and

     WHEREAS, 80 percent of goods consumed in the State are imported and nearly 99 percent of those imported goods are maintained, received, and processed through the State's commercial harbor system; and

     WHEREAS, no other state in the United States is as dependent on ocean transportation and its commercial harbor systems as Hawaii; and

     WHEREAS, the State's commercial harbor system, and by extension, ocean transportation, is the State's connection to national and international economies, supporting every facet of the State's local economy, including tourism, construction, national defense, agriculture, and all other industries; and

     WHEREAS, as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's ongoing responsibilities under the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 and the National Coral Reef Action Strategy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is currently considering adding 66 reef-building coral species to the Endangered Species Act, including two species, Montipora patula and Montipora flabellate, which are the fourth and fifth most abundant coral in the waters surrounding Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, the Hilo Harbor New Day Work Project was delayed for three years and incurred an additional cost of $4,300,000 to mitigate potential damage to 80 square feet of coral that was found growing in the commercial harbor; and

     WHEREAS, Honolulu Harbor New Day Work Projects and other commercial harbor projects in the State will require similar efforts to mitigate coral damage, which is likely to add considerable expense to the projects; and

     WHEREAS, the State's commercial harbor facilities and commercial importation and transportation activities would be severely impacted by a federal designation of any endangered coral that is prevalent in the State's commercial harbors; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is requested to exempt the Montipora patula and the Montipora flabellate species of coral in all state waters, particularly commercial harbors, from reclassification under the proposed rule, "Endangered and Threatened Species: Listing of 66 Reef-Building Coral Species; Reclassification of Elkhorn Acropora palmata and Staghorn Acropora cervicornis" (77 FR 73219); and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, and state Director of Transportation.

Report Title:

Harbors; Endangered Species; NOAA