STAND. COM. REP. NO. 294

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 841

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 841 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MARINE LIFE CONSERVATION DISTRICTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require that the Department of Land and Natural Resources establish and conduct a Marine Life Conservation District Carrying Capacity Program to establish best practices for appropriate use of the State's marine life conservation districts.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Mālama Pūpūkea-Waimea, Hawaiʻi Reef and Ocean Coalition, and three individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Ocean Tourism Coalition and Hoʻāla Kealakekua Nui.

Your Committee finds that marine life conservation districts are established by the Department of Land and Natural Resources to conserve and replenish the State's marine resources. Act 31, Session Laws of Hawaii of 2022, was enacted to require that the Department of Land and Natural Resources establish and conduct the Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District Carrying Capacity Pilot Program to reduce the impact of humans on the health and abundance of marine life in the sensitive areas of the Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District. This measure will address the carrying capacity of the State's most valuable marine resources, ensuring their protection and conservation for the future.

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. 841, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 841, 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