STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2204-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.C.R. No. 159

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Tourism, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 159, S.D. 1, entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE ADOPTION OF SHARED GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE RESTORATION OF WAIKIKI BEACHES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to urge the adoption of shared guiding principles for the planning, financing, and undertaking of efforts to restore, maintain, and improve the beaches, shoreline, and coastal areas of Waikiki.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; and Office of Planning and Sustainable Development. Your Committee received comments on this measure from Starn O'Toole Marcus & Fisher and Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that Waikiki's beaches are vital to Hawaiʻi's economy, culture, and quality of life by drawing a significant number of visitors to the State and providing important recreational areas for residents. Your Committee further finds that decades of coastal engineering and development eliminated Waikiki's original beaches, requiring repeated and ongoing restoration efforts to maintain shoreline access, public safety, and recreational use. Your Committee recognizes that the public's interest in access to coastal resources and the economic interests dependent upon Waikiki are closely linked, and that prior efforts have not produced a coordinated, long-term strategy. Accordingly, your Committee supports urging the adoption of shared guiding principles to inform a comprehensive, equitable, and sustainable approach to restoring and maintaining Waikiki's beaches and shoreline.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language clarifying the history of the Waikiki shoreline and efforts to develop a strategy for the preservation of Waikiki's beaches and infrastructure;

(2) Clarifying that public and private stakeholders are urged to adopt the shared guiding principles;

(3) Clarifying strategies to be incorporated into the shared guiding principles for public access to the ocean, beach, and shorelines;

(4) Inserting language requesting the shared guiding principles incorporating implementation of a certain state policy to also allow flexibility to the Department of Land and Natural Resources to address unique shoreline situations with consideration of different alternatives;

(5) Clarifying that the responsibility to maintain seawalls and other infrastructure proximate to the shoreline should be in accordance with the 1928 and 1929 Waikiki Beach Reclamation Agreement, the 1965 Surfrider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement, and all applicable Hawaii Supreme Court cases;

(6) Inserting language requesting the shared guiding principles to include consultation and collaboration with Waikiki Beach hotels, landowners, University of Hawaii Sea Grant experts, and other stakeholders;

(7) Amending the recipients of certified copies of this measure;

(8) Amending its title in accordance with its amended purpose; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Tourism that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 159, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Water & Land in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 159, S.D. 1, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Tourism,

____________________________

ADRIAN K. TAM, Chair