STAND. COM. REP. NO. 432

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 15

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 15 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VESSELS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Director of Transportation to adopt rules that regulate and limit noise from vessels at harbors, ports, roadsteads, docks, wharves, piers, quays, bulkheads, and landings of the State.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Matson Navigation Company, Inc. and Hawaii Harbor Users Group.

Your Committee finds that as working harbors, many of the State's harbors produce large amounts of noise. While the Department of Transportation has the authority to adopt rules regulating the manner in which vessels may enter and moor, anchor, or dock in commercial harbors, ports, and roadsteads, this authority does not allow the Department of Transportation to adopt rules to regulate excessive and harmful noises emanating from these vessels. To alleviate the concerns of individuals affected by the noise from state harbors, this measure authorizes the Department of Transportation to adopt rules to regulate and limit noise from vessels at state-owned harbors.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 15, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 15, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair