SB3169

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that coastal erosion threatens the State's economic, natural, cultural, and spiritual assets. Mantokuji bay, Paia, in the county of Maui, exemplifies the threat and urgency of developing effective coastal management strategies. Mantokuji bay is a natural coastal cell spanning approximately one mile of shoreline, bounded by headlands and historically featuring a wide sand beach that buffered the land from ocean forces. The bay once sustained a balanced coastal ecosystem including sand dunes, rocky shoreline, coral reef structure, and habitat for endangered Hawaiian green sea turtles.

The legislature further finds that county sand mining operations in the 1930s removed significant quantities of beach sand for public works projects, triggering decades of accelerated erosion that has degraded water quality, damaged coral reef ecosystems, undercut natural headland rock features, and caused the bay to widen. According to the university of Hawaii Coastal Geology Group, the Mantokuji bay coastline is retreating inland at an average rate of approximately 1.6 feet per year, threatening residences, infrastructure, and irreplaceable cultural sites along its shores.

The legislature notes that the most significant of the threatened cultural resources along the bay is the Paia Mantokuji, a Soto Zen Buddhist temple. Established in 1906, the temple is listed on the Hawaii register of historic places and is the oldest Soto Zen Buddhist temple in the State. The temple hosts one of the State's most popular annual Obon festivals, drawing thousands of visitors. The temple grounds contain sacred burial sites including a former crematorium and numerous ancestral remains. Coastal erosion has caused ancestral burials to fall into the ocean, creating an urgent cultural and spiritual crisis while threatening the temple's structural integrity. The bay also buffers the Hana highway, the major transportation corridor for northeast Maui communities, from coastal hazards.

The legislature finds that the State's historical parcel‑by-parcel coastal management approach has prevented comprehensive regional solutions and resulted in piecemeal hardening that exacerbated regional erosion. Past county sand mining in Mantokuji bay further contributed to current conditions. Effective protection requires addressing the entire bay as a natural coastal cell for specific regional coastal remediation. Coastal resilience approaches include nature-based solutions, enhancement of naturally occurring features such as headlands and reefs, hybrid natural-engineered systems, adaptive protection structures, and other innovative coastal adaptation strategies that offer opportunities to protect Mantokuji bay while maintaining environmental protection and shoreline access.

The legislature further finds, however, that traditional regulatory processes effectively make approval of regional bay‑wide resilience solutions extremely difficult due to overlapping jurisdictions and rigid criteria not designed for comprehensive coastal management.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to establish a five-year pilot program to implement comprehensive coastal resilience measures for Mantokuji bay that utilize streamlined regulatory processes while maintaining environmental and cultural protections, which may later be used to inform future statewide policy for protecting threatened coastal areas.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established within the department of business, economic development, and tourism a five-year coastal resilience pilot program to implement comprehensive, streamlined coastal management measures for the restoration and preservation of Mantokuji bay, Paia, in the county of Maui. Under the pilot program, the department shall approve and implement coastal management measures that support regional coastal remediation by addressing the entirety of Mantokuji bay as a natural coastal cell, rather than individual land parcels.

(b) The pilot program shall establish a monitoring program in a manner specified by the department to evaluate its efficacy and environmental impacts.

(c) The state historic preservation division shall conduct a streamlined historic preservation review to evaluate measures approved under the pilot program. The state historic preservation division shall require:

(1) An archaeological literature review of archaeological and historical documentation for the area of potential effect and the project environment;

(2) An archaeological monitoring plan providing for a qualified archaeologist to be present during ground‑disturbing activities with the authority to halt work if significant historic properties or human remains are encountered; and

(3) An inadvertent discovery protocol establishing procedures for the treatment of any iwi kupuna, burial goods, or cultural artifacts discovered during project implementation.

The state historic preservation division shall issue a determination within forty-five calendar days of receiving the documentation required pursuant to this subsection; provided that if no determination is issued within forty-five days, the pilot program may proceed in accordance with the monitoring plan and inadvertent discovery protocol submitted pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3); provided further that any applicable requirements pursuant to section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1996, as amended, shall be satisfied before the pilot program proceeds.

(d) The department shall coordinate with federal agencies to seek expedited review and approval of coastal management measures approved under the pilot program through consolidated applications and coordinated processes where feasible.

(e) Notwithstanding any law or ordinance to the contrary, the pilot program shall be exempt from:

(1) Chapter 183C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to conservation districts;

(2) Chapter 205A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to coastal zone management;

(3) Chapter 343, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to environmental impact statements;

(4) County ordinances regulating shoreline setback and variance requirements; and

(5) County building permit requirements specifically related to coastal resilience structures; provided that public safety standards shall be maintained.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt the pilot program from:

(1) Any federal laws and regulations, including but not limited to:

(A) United States Army Corps of Engineers permit requirements;

(B) Applicable requirements pursuant to section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended;

(D) Water quality certification requirements pursuant to the Clean Water Act of 1972, as amended; and

(E) Federal consistency review requirements pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1992, as amended;

(2) Article XII, section 7, of the Hawaii State Constitution, protecting traditional and customary rights of Native Hawaiians;

(3) Chapter 6E, Hawaii Revised States, relating to historic preservation; provided that only the streamlined historic preservation review required pursuant to subsection (c) shall apply; and

(4) Marine life protection laws and water quality standards.

(g) The department shall submit an annual report on the coastal resilience pilot program to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session. Each report shall include:

(1) A status report for the pilot program;

(2) An evaluation of the efficacy of the pilot program;

(3) Budget expenditures; and

(4) Any other findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation.

(h) For the purposes of this section:

"Department" means the department of business, economic development, and tourism.

"Pilot program" means the coastal resilience pilot program established pursuant to subsection (a).

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026, and shall be repealed on June 30, 2031.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	3169
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII