STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2659

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2084

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2084 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MARINE LIFE CONSERVATION DISTRICTS,"

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 establish and conduct a Marine Life Conservation District Carrying Capacity Program;

(2) Require the Department to submit a report to the Legislature and adopt administrative rules; and

(3) Appropriate funds for the Department to establish and conduct the Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; The Nature Conservancy, Hawaiʻi and Palmyra; Activities and Attractions Association of Hawaiʻi, Inc.; Mālama Pūpūkea-Waimea; Hui Aloha Kiholo; Hawaiʻi Ocean Legislative Task Force; Friends of Hanauma Bay; Hawaiʻi Reef Ocean Coalition; and one individual.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from Calypso Charters.

Your Committee finds that, while tourism levels are recovering from COVID-19, the State needs to plan for the impact of increased visitation to marine life conservation districts. Your Committee further finds that Act 31, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022 (Act 31), established the Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District Carrying Capacity Pilot Program to identify long-term management options to reduce the impact of humans on the health and abundance of marine life within that district. Your Committee believes Act 31 should serve as a model for all marine life conservation districts in the State. Accordingly, this measure will ensure all marine life conservation districts address their capacity limits and are prepared for the task of preserving the State's most valuable marine resources in the face of future threats.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

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

(2) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

Your Committee notes that this measure contains an appropriation for an unspecified amount. Should your Committee on Ways and Means choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it consider inserting an appropriate amount.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2084, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2084, 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, Land, Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair