155
THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO
    IMPLEMENT THE RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING HAWAII'S
    COMMERCIAL BOATING AND OCEAN RECREATION INDUSTRY MADE BY
    THE SMALL BUSINESS TASK FORCE ON REGULATORY RELIEF.
 


 1        WHEREAS, America's twenty-two million small businesses
 2   together rank as the world's third largest economic power,
 3   employing fifty-three per cent of the American work force and
 4   contributing thirty-eight per cent of the nation's gross
 5   domestic product and half of all private sector output.  Small
 6   businesses are also responsible for over two-thirds of all new
 7   jobs created since the early 1970's; and
 8   
 9        WHEREAS, the National Federation of Independent Business
10   ranks ninety-eight per cent of all businesses in Hawaii as
11   small businesses.  However, recent statistics indicate that
12   over five thousand small businesses have exited the Hawaii
13   economy in the last few years, reducing the number from
14   approximately twenty-nine thousand to twenty-four thousand
15   small businesses; and
16   
17        WHEREAS, irrespective of this decline, small business
18   continues to be the backbone of Hawaii's economy; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, in recognition of these facts, the Governor's
21   Small Business Task Force on Regulatory Relief was established
22   in 1997 to identify and analyze burdensome regulations that
23   impact the well-being of Hawaii's small businesses; and
24   
25        WHEREAS, in the three years since it was formed, the Task
26   Force reviewed hundreds of cases expressing the concerns and
27   frustrations of business owners and operators throughout the
28   State; and
29   
30        WHEREAS, in response to the findings and recommendations
31   of the Task Force, the Legislature enacted the Hawaii Small
32   Business Regulatory Flexibility Act in 1998; and
33   

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        


 1        WHEREAS, the Small Business Task Force on Regulatory
 2   Relief presented its final report to the Governor and the
 3   Legislature in December of 1999; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, one of the primary focuses of the Task Force was
 6   Hawaii's commercial boating industry, which includes ocean
 7   transportation, ocean recreation, and the taking and selling of
 8   seafood, which is estimated to produce $3,800,000,000 in
 9   revenues and employ approximately twenty thousand residents;
10   and
11   
12        WHEREAS, the Task Force found that Hawaii's commercial
13   boating industry is being constrained by the manner in which it
14   is being regulated; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, the Task Force further found that although the
17   ocean recreation industry represents one of the fastest growing
18   sectors in the State's economy, it has never enjoyed the
19   support from state government relative to other smaller
20   industries.  The Task Force found that because of burdensome
21   administrative rules, "the State has hamstrung commercial
22   boating to the point that continued growth and vitality is
23   threatened"; and
24   
25        WHEREAS, the Task Force also concluded that the industry
26   was heavily burdened by increased and sometimes overlapping
27   fees charged by the Department of Land and Natural Resources;
28   and
29   
30        WHEREAS, commercial boat operators also perceive a lack of
31   consistency in fees, permit standards, and contract
32   requirements from year to year, facility to facility, and for
33   varying jurisdictions; and
34   
35        WHEREAS, in a state that promotes itself as the "Ocean
36   State", it is reasonable to demand management that protects and
37   promotes both natural ocean resources as well as the prosperity
38   and growth of Hawaii's boating industry; now, therefore,
39   
40        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
41   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
42   Representatives concurring, that the Department of Land and
43   Natural Resources is requested to implement the recommendations

 
 
 
 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        


 1   regarding Hawaii's commercial boating and ocean recreation
 2   industry made by the Small Business Task Force on Regulatory
 3   Relief; and
 4   
 5        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and
 6   Natural Resources is requested to replace commercial fishing
 7   permits with licenses to be registered annually; and
 8   
 9        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Small Business Regulatory
10   Review Board established pursuant to Act 168, Special Session
11   Laws of Hawaii 1998, is requested to convey the complaints and
12   concerns identified by members of the boating industry in the
13   final report of the Task Force to the Department of Land and
14   Natural Resources; and 
15   
16        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and
17   Natural Resources is requested to respond in writing to the
18   Small Business Regulatory Review Board within forty-five days
19   of receipt of the complaints and concerns, with a copy of the
20   response to be provided to the Legislature, including specific
21   recommendations to create consistency in fees, rules, and
22   requirements, and to explain or justify overlapping fees; and
23   
24        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to
25   investigate existing boating facilities management, operations,
26   and standards, and report to the Legislature its
27   recommendations as to the feasibility, including the advantages
28   and disadvantages, of transferring the Division of Boating and
29   Ocean Recreation from the Department of Land and Natural
30   Resources back to the Department of Transportation; and
31   
32        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and
33   Natural Resources and the Auditor are requested to submit their
34   respective reports to the Legislature no later than twenty days
35   before the convening of the Regular Session of 2001; and
36   
37        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
38   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the
39   Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Auditor, and the
40   Chairperson of the Small Business Regulatory Review Board.
41 
42 
43 
44                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________