SB3116 SD1 SSCR2442

 

STAND. COM. REP. 2442

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 3116

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Tourism, Economic Development, and Energy and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 3116 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRUISE SHIPS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to regulate the discharge of sewage, graywater, or other wastewater and air emissions of commercial passenger cruise ships in the waters of the State.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Office of the Mayor -- County of Maui, Kauai Councilmember JoAnn Yukimura, and Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter. The NorthWest Cruiseship Association, Hawaii Audubon Society, Earthjustice, and Norwegian Cruise Lines submitted testimony in support of the intent of this measure. The Department of Health (Department) submitted testimony in opposition, and Life of the Land provided comments on this measure.

Your Committees find that the current Memorandum of Understanding between the State and the NorthWest CruiseShip Association does not adequately ensure the protection of our state waters. This measure provides statutory prohibitions and allows for civil and criminal penalties to ensure commercial passenger vessel owners and operators limit their discharges and emissions in an effort to protect ocean and air quality.

Additionally, this measure requires commercial passenger vessel owners and operators to monitor and maintain records and, upon request of the Department, provide reports to the Department detailing any discharges or emissions while in state waters.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Removing the prohibition on sewage discharges to address the Attorney General's concerns of compliance with the federal Clean Water Act;

(2) Creating an incentive in the form of reduced environmental compliance fees for commercial passenger vessels that practice exemplary sewage discharge management in the waters of the State;

(3) Allowing the State to enter into voluntary agreements, such as the Memorandum of Understanding, with any owners or operators of commercial passenger vessels beyond the standards and waters specified in this measure;

(4) Lowering the criminal penalties to $25,000 per day for a first conviction and $50,000 per day for a violation committed after a first conviction, in conformance with penalties of other state jurisdictions; and

(5) Providing that the Department may adjust the discharge and emission standards as necessary after review by the Department; and

(6) Changing the effective date to promote continued discussion and development of this measure.

This is a work in progress. Your Committees are currently communicating with the cruiseship industry and working with the Environmental Protection Agency to clarify the Attorney General's concerns of federal preemption through the Clean Water Act. This measure may require further amendment pending the outcome of these communications.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Tourism, Economic Development, and Energy and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3116, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3116, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Tourism, Economic Development, and Energy and Environment,

____________________________ CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair		____________________________ DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair
		____________________________ J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair