STAND. COM. REP. NO. 231

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 823

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. 823 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Provide an exemption for flatbed trucks from registration renewals and initial registrations of motor carrier vehicles when used as marine terminal equipment temporarily moving in or between certain terminals; and

(2) Add new terminal locales and roadways to be covered under the exemption.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation; Hawaii Stevedores, Inc.; and seventy-four individuals.

Your Committee finds that existing law limits the public roadways upon which the marine terminal equipment may be operated without a valid motor vehicle registration. Exemptions promote operational efficiencies in loading, offloading, and the movement of cargo. However, your Committee notes that while the exemptions assist with movement at state harbors, the inclusion of heavily used highways and arteries may create congestion and inefficiencies in other sectors of the State's transportation system. Therefore, to promote continued support of the State's commercial harbors, while also recognizing other transportation sectors utilized on a daily basis, clarification to exempted roadways is needed.

Your Committee has amended this measure by restricting the exemption for Nimitz Highway to be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and from 6:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

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. 823, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 823, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

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

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CHRIS LEE, Chair