STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2350

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2519

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 2519 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require an emergency shoreline hardening permit for the construction, maintenance, or improvement of a temporary erosion control structure;

(2) Provide that each permit is valid for a maximum of one year; provided that the lifetime of the structure may be extended no more than an additional two and a half years upon an applicant demonstrating a concerted effort, as deemed acceptable by the Board of Land and Natural Resources, to develop and implement a long-term solution that will enable the removal of the temporary erosion control structure;

(3) Establish penalties for persons who build, improve, or maintain a temporary erosion control structure without a valid permit; and

(4) Require the Board of Land and Natural Resources to administer and enforce this Act.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Surfrider Foundation. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

Your Committee finds that many beachfront homeowners in the State have built seawalls, sandbag walls, known locally as "burritos", or other shoreline hardening structures, including geotextile fabric, to stave off local sea level rise, strong wave action, and coastal flooding along the coast. However, these structures accelerate coastal erosion in areas they are meant to protect and further cause increased erosion in adjacent areas of the beach that do not have similar structures. While some of these structures are built without permission, others are built with emergency permits that are typically limited to three years, are often granted endless extensions, and are generally not removed after the expiration of the permit.

Your Committee also finds that the State has a "no tolerance" policy for new shoreline armoring. Although property owners may apply to build a seawall, this process is long and cumbersome, including a formal environmental review and public hearings, and requires approval from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. The emergency permit, in contrast, does not require the lengthy review process that is required for formal, authorized seawalls. This measure strengthens rules regarding the issuance of permits and its validity; long-term solutions to enable the removal of temporary erosion control structures; and penalties for persons who build, improve, or maintain a temporary erosion control structure without a valid permit.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2519, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2519, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

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

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair