HB2599 SD1

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that coral reefs are a critical component of the State's ecosystem and provide extremely valuable goods and services for the State and its residents, including coastal protection from erosion due to increasing sea levels and larger ocean swells as the ocean warms; sand production that replenishes beaches; a unique home for native species; and fisheries, recreation, tourism, and spiritual connection. Many reefs around the island of Oahu are widely known to be among the most degraded in the State. This situation is due to increasing impact from human activity, including heavy extraction and fishing pressure, poor agricultural and development land use practices, unchecked ungulate populations that lead to erosion and sedimentation, and run-off of excess nutrients from sewage and fertilizers. Furthermore, increasing ocean warming is now causing more frequent and severe coral bleaching events that kill corals and are predicted to be annual events by about 2040. Ocean acidification and other pollutants also adversely affect corals. All of these factors contribute to degraded reefs and lower numbers of herbivorous fishes to keep coral-reef degradation in check.

The legislature further finds that immediate and sustained action is needed to protect and restore coral reefs around the State and especially around the most critically impacted island of Oahu.

Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to require the division of aquatic resources of the department of land and natural resources to:

(1) Manage the aquatic life and aquatic resources of the State, giving the highest priority to protecting, restoring, and maintaining ecosystem integrity and using the best peer-reviewed scientific data available;

(2) Maintain reefs and each native species within them at levels no less than the best peer-reviewed science suggests is able to comfortably withstand the worst coral bleaching events and other likely threats to reef ecosystem health in the subsequent five decades; and

(3) Set goals, make plans, and take action to substantially improve coral-reef resilience with annual reports to the legislature.

SECTION 2. Section 187A-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§187A-2 Powers and duties of department. The department shall:

(1) Manage and administer the aquatic life and aquatic resources of the State[;], giving the highest priority to protecting, restoring, and maintaining ecosystem integrity, and maintaining reefs and each native species within them at levels no less than the best peer-reviewed science suggests is able to comfortably withstand the worst coral bleaching events and other likely threats to reef ecosystem health in the subsequent five decades, including but not limited to collaboration with other relevant agencies to restore and maintain good condition of the water that encompasses these ecosystems;

(2) Establish and maintain aquatic life propagating station or stations;

(3) Establish, manage, and regulate public fishing areas, artificial reefs, fish aggregating devices, marine life conservation districts, shoreline fishery management areas, refuges, and other areas pursuant to title 12;

(4) Subject to this title, import aquatic life for the purpose of propagating and disseminating [~~the same~~] aquatic life in the State and the waters subject to its jurisdiction;

(5) Distribute, free of charge, as the department deems to be in the public interest, aquatic life, for the purpose of increasing the food supply of the State; provided that when, in the discretion of the department, the public interest shall not be materially interfered with by so doing, the department may propagate and furnish aquatic life to private parties, upon [~~such~~] reasonable terms, conditions, and prices determined by the department;

(6) [~~Gather~~] Use the best available peer-reviewed science to gather and compile information and statistics concerning the habitat and character of, and increase and decrease in, aquatic resources in the State, including the care and propagation of aquatic resources for protective, productive, and aesthetic purposes, and other useful information[~~, which~~] the department deems proper;

(7) Enforce all laws relating to the protecting, taking, killing, propagating, or increasing of aquatic life within the State and the waters subject to its jurisdiction; and

(8) Formulate and from time to time recommend to the governor and legislature [~~such~~] additional legislation necessary or desirable to implement the objectives of title 12."

SECTION 3. (a) No later than July 1, 2027, for the island of Oahu, and no later than July 1, 2029, for the other islands, the division of aquatic resources of the department of land and natural resources shall:

(1) Develop and publish goals to significantly increase coral-reef resilience to maintain reefs and each native species within them at levels no less than the best peer-reviewed science suggests is able to comfortably withstand the worst coral bleach events and other likely threats to reef ecosystem health in the subsequent five decades; and

(2) Create a framework for meeting these goals and the qualitative measurement of progress each year by using the best available peer-reviewed science. The framework shall include but not be limited to the following criteria:

(A) Water quality and quantity;

(B) Herbivore biomass;

(D) Enforcement;

(E) Coral restoration; and

(F) Recreational-use impacts.

(b) Before adopting the framework required by subsection (a)(2), the division of aquatic resources of the department of land and natural resources shall coordinate with other relevant management agencies in the State and hold at least one public hearing on the respective island for which the framework is being developed regarding the framework.

(c) The division of aquatic resources of the department of land and natural resources may adopt temporary administrative rules or take immediate action related to any part of the framework required by subsection (a)(2), or in preparation for or responding to an emergency or critical situation, such as a bleaching event or other adverse impact on a coral reef or species, with the approval of the board of land and natural resources and without regard to chapter 91 and chapter 201M, Hawaii Revised Statutes; provided that the temporary administrative rules shall be repealed no later than five years after their adoption, or upon the adoption of rules by the division of aquatic resources of the department of land and natural resources pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, whichever is sooner.

(d) No later than December 1, 2026, and December 1 of each year thereafter, the division of aquatic resources of the department of land and natural resources shall submit to the legislature a report regarding the implementation, progress, and results of this section.

Each annual report shall include any findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation.

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon approval.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2599
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1