STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2656

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2183

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 2183 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RESTORATION OF BEACH LANDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the definition of "beach restoration" used in laws governing the Board of Land and Natural Resources' powers to engage in beach restoration to include activities undertaken to:

(1) Improve eroded beaches and degraded dune systems; and

(2) Remove abandoned and remnant manmade materials that pose a risk to the health of the public and ecosystem.

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

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from two individuals.

Your Committee finds that sea level rise poses a serious and imminent threat to Hawaii's coastal communities and residents and Hawaii's natural resources, primarily beaches and coastal ecosystems. The State has an affirmative duty to preserve beaches as a public trust resource for the people of Hawaii, and beaches are culturally important and provide natural resilience to sea level rise and associated coastal flooding. This measure will help to preserve Hawaii's beaches and coastal systems by expanding the types of activities the State recognizes as restorative and beneficial to beaches.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying the definition of "beach restoration" to include:

(A) The management and restoration of sand and native dune vegetation; and

(B) The removal of materials abandoned on beaches and dunes that pose a risk to public health and coastal ecosystems; and

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

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. 2183, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2183, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on 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