STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1617

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2013

RE:   S.B. No. 1207

      H.D. 2

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Water & Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 1207, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to enable the Harbors Division of the Department of Transportation to implement needed state harbor projects by exempting all work involving submerged lands used for state commercial harbors purposes from permitting and site plan approval requirements applicable to lands in a conservation district.  

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation.  The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Country Talk Story, and several individuals submitted testimony in opposition to this measure.  The Building Industry Association of Hawaii and one individual submitted comments.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that the exemption from permitting and site plan approval requirements applies only in contexts where those permitting and approval requirements overlap with other state or federal environmental regulatory requirements;

     (2)  Clarifying that the exemption applies only to maintenance work to rehabilitate and upgrade the existing state harbor system, and not to submerged lands that are not currently part of that system; and

     (3)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion.

     Your Committee finds that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is consulted and has the opportunity to comment on existing Department of Transportation commercial harbors projects or actions through existing agency consultation processes associated with various state and federal regulatory requirements applicable to conservation lands and resources including the environmental review process pursuant to Chapter 343, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and federal regulations for projects involving the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water & Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1207, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1207, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water & Land,

____________________________

CINDY EVANS, Chair