STAND. COM. REP. NO. 605

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 509

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 Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 509 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 require each executive branch department to:

(1) Identify existing and planned facilities that are vulnerable to sea level rise, flooding impacts, and natural hazards;

(2) Assess options for mitigation impacts of sea level rise to existing and planned facilities;

(3) Establish staff level points of contact to improve interagency coordination for sea level rise adaptation, flooding, and resilience; and

(4) Submit annual reports to the Governor, Legislature, and Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Department of Transportation, University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program, and Climate Resilience Collaborative. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency and Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee finds that sea level rise poses an imminent and unprecedented threat. The University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program and Climate Resilience Collaborative provided testimony indicative of a fifteen to thirty percent higher sea level rise for Hawaii in comparison to the global average. It is estimated that by the year 2050, Hawaii will experience close to one foot of sea level rise. The impending vulnerability of coastal communities is punctuated by the projected impact sea level rise will have on the exponential increase of tidal flooding by 2030.

Further, your Committee finds that there is value in a concerted collaborative effort to identify and plan for mitigation efforts for existing and planned facilities that are vulnerable to sea level rise, flooding impacts, and natural hazards.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that locations where conservation of beaches and coastal environments is desired are to be defined by the heads of each department;

(2) Inserting language to require each department to ensure its commitment to protecting the public trust while balancing the public interests of health, safety, and welfare of residents;

(3) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2112, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee has received the testimony of the Department of Education and Department of Land and Natural Resources expressing concerns that this measure is duplicative of Act 178, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021 (Act 178). Your Committee appreciates their due diligence and notes that the Department of Transportation and the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program and Climate Resilience Collaborative distinguish that this measure provides additional provisions that are not included in Act 178.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 509, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 509, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Government Operations,

________________________________

ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY, Chair