STAND. COM. REP. NO. 376

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 497

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Tourism and Hawaiian Affairs and Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 497 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BEACH NOURISHMENT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate matching funds for the environmental impact statement associated with the planned beach nourishment project at Kaanapali Beach on the island of Maui.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Tourism Authority; Hyatt Regency Maui Resort Spa; Maui Hotel and Lodging Association; Classic Resorts; and Kaanapali Operations Association, Inc.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

     Your Committees find that Kaanapali Beach is experiencing chronic and episodic erosion, which has caused more than thirty-five feet of beach loss in some areas along Kaanapali Beach since 1988.  Furthermore, the economic value of Kaanapali Beach is significant; visitors to Kaanapali Beach contribute over $2,000,000,000 to the State and Maui County economies.  Your Committees find that restoration of Kaanapali Beach is necessary to preserve a vital environmental, recreational, economic, and cultural resource for residents and visitors on the island of Maui.  Accordingly, your Committees conclude that this measure should be approved so long as the funds expended for the beach nourishment project at Kaanapali beach are matched dollar-for-dollar with private funds.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Tourism and Hawaiian Affairs and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 497, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 497, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Tourism and Hawaiian Affairs and Water and Land,

____________________________ MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair

____________________________ BRICKWOOD GALUTERIA, Chair