STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1346-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 3032

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 Water & Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 3032, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BEACHES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to clarify that the prohibition on the taking or mining of beach or marine deposits, including sand, seaward from the shoreline includes licensed and unlicensed contractors.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Surfrider Foundation, Hawaiʻi Region; and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that although existing state law prohibits the removal or mining of sand from public beaches, enforcement has been weakened by uncertainty over who may be held accountable when violations occur. In practice, responsibility has often fallen primarily on homeowners, even when the physical removal of sand is carried out by licensed or unlicensed contractors. This situation has created an enforcement gap that allows contractors, the repeat actors with technical expertise and control over execution, to avoid direct accountability. Your Committee finds that this measure would fill this gap by explicitly clarifying that licensed and unlicensed contractors are also subject to penalties for illegal sand removal. This measure does not change what activities are legal or illegal, nor does it expand or restrict existing permitting authorities. Instead, it simply ensures that everyone involved in illegal sand removal is clearly accountable under the law. This measure shifts enforcement from a reactive, complaint-driven system to one that better deters violations before irreversible harm to beaches occurs.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing its effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) 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 Water & Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3032, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3032, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water & Land,

____________________________

MARK J. HASHEM, Chair