STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3064

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                   

 

RE:     S.B. No. 2818

        S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2818, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BOATING,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify the penalties for violations of boating and ocean recreation laws pursuant to chapter 200, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and Department of Land and Natural Resources.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Maui Chamber of Commerce and Hawaii Efoil Alliance.

 

     Your Committee finds that Act 215, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024, inadvertently decriminalized certain violations of boating and ocean recreation laws.  Consequently, effective enforcement of boating and ocean recreation laws, including egregious natural resource and safety violations, have been largely neutralized.  This measure will clarify which violations of boating and ocean recreation law will be subject to criminal penalties to deter violators and ensure the security of state boating facilities.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting language to clarify the conditions under which certain conduct shall be considered unauthorized;

 

     (2)  Inserting a definition of "restricted area"; and

 

     (3)  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 Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2818, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2818, S.D. 2.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair