STAND. COM. REP. NO. 362

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1258

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 Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 1258 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Department of Land and Natural Resources to

develop and implement a management system for Kaena Point State Park and the Makua and Keawaula regions; and

(2) Appropriate funds.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii State Aha Moku, Protectors of Paradise, Iron Workers Stabilization Fund, Makaha Hawaiian Civic Club, Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition, and six individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that Kaena Point State Park and the Makua and Keawaula regions are significant for their beauty, cultural and historical significance, and exceptional value to the Hawaiian community. However, your Committee further finds that in 2016, due to years of overuse and abuse from illegal driving on the beach, unmanaged camping, harmful fishing and gathering practices, and other recreational uses that resulted in hazardous accumulations of rubbish and human waste, areas of Kaena Point State Park and the Makua and Keawaula regions were closed to overnight access. The intent was to reopen with a proper management system in place that encompasses Hawaiian management values, balancing public use with the preservation of the aina, wildlife, and cultural resources. However, your Committee finds that a proper management system has yet to be implemented.

Your Committee finds that a proper management system for these areas is long overdue and that the implementation of a system to improve public safety and environmental protection is necessary. Therefore, this measure requires the Department of Land and Natural Resources to develop and implement a management system for Kaena Point State Park and the Makua and Keawaula regions.

Your Committee has heard the testimony of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, stating that while the Department agrees that Makua and Keawaula need updated community-based management planning and implementation, the Department is concerned this measure singles out Makua and Keawaula as a "top priority", and requests that the language in this measure describing Makua and Keawaula as such be deleted. The Department also testified that appropriations will not be necessary in carrying out the intent of this measure.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting the language that singles out Makua and Keawaula as a "top priority";

(2) Deleting the appropriation section;

(3) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1258, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1258, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair