STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 398-22
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2022
RE: H.B. No. 2446
H.D. 1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2022
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Water & Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 2446 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Appropriate funds to the Department of Land and Natural Resources to establish twenty-eight full-time equivalent positions in Parks and Administration (LNR 806) to implement visitor reservation systems in Hawaii state parks; and
(2) Appropriate funds out of the State Parks Special Fund to the Department of Land and Natural Resources for the management of Hawaii's state parks.
Your Committee finds that prioritizing the State's natural resources is an essential component of destination management. Your Committee notes that, prior to 2020, annual arrivals to Hawaii exceeded ten million visitors, and according to state economists, Hawaii will return to pre-pandemic tourism levels by 2025. To prepare for the rising visitor numbers, your Committee believes that Hawaii's state parks can be better managed using a visitor reservation system.
Your Committee further finds that, in 2018, massive flooding on Kauai damaged surrounding bridges, beaches, and roads, forcing Haena State Park to close for fourteen months. When Haena State Park reopened, the Department of Land and Natural Resources worked with the local community to implement a reservation system that allowed a maximum of nine hundred park visitors per day. This measure appropriates funds for positions to allow the Department of Natural Resources to implement a similar reservation model created at Haena State Park that can be used in all Hawaii state parks.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Changing its effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and
(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
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 H.B. No. 2446, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2446, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water & Land,
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____________________________ DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair |