STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3810

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.C.R. No. 130

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Government Operations and Transportation and Energy, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 130 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING STATE AGENCIES TO EVALUATE, COLLABORATE, AND IMPLEMENT BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, TECHNOLOGIES, AND REGULATIONS TO ADDRESS VESSEL BIOFOULING IN HAWAII HARBORS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to urge state agencies to:

(1) Work together in planning for Hawaii's involvement in the Alliance for Coastal Technologies and Maritime Environmental Resource Center's program for the assessment and evaluation of biofouling management technologies;

(2) Review the risks of the non-abrasive cleaning of ship hull microfouling and create processes and conditions, such as best management practices, to allow certain vessels with low-risk hull coatings or paint to apply for an in-water cleaning permit; and

(3) Develop and implement a measurable and enforceable program to address biofouling, to launch with a voluntary compliance phase-in period by December 31, 2019, in accordance with the Hawaii Interagency Biosecurity Plan 2017-2027.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Planning; Department of Land and Natural Resources; Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species; O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; and Young Brothers, Limited.

Your Committees find that the maritime industry is an important component of the State's economy. Your Committees also find biofouling, the accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or animals on a wetted surface, such as the hull of a shipping vessel, is a serious vector of aquatic invasive species transfer through transpacific travel, which, if transferred and established in new ecosystems, may pose threats to the environment, human health, property, and resources. Moreover, your Committees find that the Hawaii Interagency Biosecurity Plan 2017-2027 recognized that up to seventy-eight percent of Hawaii's non-native marine algae and invertebrate species can be attributed to vessel biofouling. Further, your Committees find that to develop and implement safe and effective measures for management of biofouling in Hawaii's harbors, a high level of coordination between various state agencies is required.

Your Committees also note that the development of plans for Hawaii's involvement in the Alliance for Coastal Technologies and Maritime Environmental Resource Center's program for the assessment and evaluation of biofouling management technologies would benefit from state agencies working alongside other interested stakeholders, including the Hawaii Harbors User Group.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Urging state agencies to work together and with interested stakeholders, including the Hawaii Harbor Users Group;

(2) Adding the Executive Director of the Hawaii Harbors User Group to the list of entities to receive a certified copy; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Government Operations and Transportation and Energy that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 130, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 130, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Government Operations and Transportation and Energy,

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair