STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2522

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3032

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. 3032 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BEACHES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that any person in violation of laws and subject to administrative, civil, or criminal penalties prohibiting the removal of sand from public beaches includes licensed and unlicensed contractors.

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

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and one individual.

Your Committee finds that existing state law prohibits the removal or disturbance of sand from public beaches, but enforcement of violators of the prohibition has been undermined by uncertainty over who may be held accountable when the violation occurs. In practice, homeowners have often been held accountable, even when the physical removal of sand is carried out by licensed or unlicensed contractors. This measure fills this gap in enforcement and improves justice and environmental protection by explicitly clarifying that contractors, licensed or not, are included as persons subject to penalties for violating law that prohibits removal or disturbance of sand from public beaches.

Your Committee notes the concerns raised in testimony by the Department of the Attorney General that the proposed placement of the expanded definition of "person" within sections 171-6.4, 171-31.6, and 205A-32, Hawaii Revised Statutes, may create unintended consequences by inadvertently affecting the scope, interpretation, or enforcement of other administrative or land-use offenses prosecuted under these chapters, beyond the specific conduct this measure is intended to address. Accordingly, amendments to this measure are necessary to address this concern.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting sections 2 through 4 of this measure which would have placed an expanded definition of "person" within sections 171-6.4, 171-31.6, and 205A-32, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(2) Inserting language that narrows the placement of the expanded definition of "person" to appropriate, operative penalty sections of the Hawaii Revised Statutes; 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 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. 3032, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3032, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair