STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2613

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2057

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 2057 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BEACH PARK RESTORATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide matching grant-in-aid funds to the County of Hawaii to hire an engineering firm to study, plan, assist, and conduct preliminary design and concept work for a two-phase project to restore the Kahaluu Beach Park in the County of Hawaii.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Parks and Recreation of the County of Hawaiʻi, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, two members of the Hawaiʻi County Council, The Kohala Center, Fair Wind Cruises, Dear Ocean, Hawaii Marine Education and Research Center, Friends of Hanauma Bay, Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition, and twenty-eight individuals.

Your Committee finds that Kahaluu Bay, which is situated in a resort area south of Kailua-Kona in the County of Hawaii, is a popular beach destination for residents and tourists alike due to its natural beauty and history as a sacred place to Native Hawaiians. The County of Hawaii uses an innovative public-private partnership with the Kohala Center's Kahaluu Bay Education Center to provide daily stewardship management that is intended to promote long-term preservation. While the Kahaluu Bay Education Center's efforts have greatly benefited Kahaluu Beach's marine and coastal ecosystem, they cannot shield the beach from the impacts of global warming. This measure will help preserve Kahaluu Beach Park for future generations by providing matching grant-in-aid funds to the County of Hawaii to hire an engineering firm that will develop a plan to restore Kahaluu Beach Park.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

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

(2) 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. 2057, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2057, 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