STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3110

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2724

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2724, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SEA LEVEL RISE ADAPTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a pilot project for a working group convened by the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to develop the framework for a Waikiki adaptation and resilience plan addressing the impacts of projected climate change and sea level rise in the State.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the University of Hawaii, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Waikiki Beach Special Improvement District Association, Hawaii Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and three individuals.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Office of the Attorney General, and Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that the adaptation and resilience plan supported by this measure will provide a useful model for other coastal communities in the State that are similarly threatened by sea level rise.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to develop an adaptation and resilience plan for the Waikiki special district, rather than establishing a working group to develop the plan;

(2) Making conforming amendments to the measure, including deleting the provision indicating the working group's dissolution date;

(3) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(4) Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2724, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2724, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair