STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1093

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 1137

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1137, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend the definition of "beach restoration" to expand the types of activities the State recognizes as restorative and beneficial to beach lands in response to sea level rise and beach loss.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program; School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology's Climate Resilience Collaborative at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; Waikīkī Beach Special Improvement District Association; Surfrider Foundation Hawaiʻi Region; Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii; Free Access Coalition; and numerous individuals.

Your Committee finds that expanding the definition of "beach restoration" allows for a wider range of nature-based activities, such as dune restoration and removal of derelict structures, to be supported through the beach restoration program. This broadens opportunities for community involvement and strengthens efforts to enhance shoreline resilience and public trust.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1137, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1137, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair