STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1448-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 3169

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 Economic Development & Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 3169, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COASTAL RESILIENCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a five-year Coastal Resilience Pilot Program within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism for the preservation of Mantokuji Bay in Paia, Maui;

(2) Require the State Historic Preservation Division to conduct a streamlined historic preservation review;

(3) Establish certain procedures for the discovery of Native Hawaiian skeletal remains;

(4) Allow the pilot program to be exempt from certain regulatory requirements; and

(5) Require the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to submit annual reports to the Legislature.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; one member of the Maui County Council; Oceanit Laboratories, Inc.; Paia Mantokuji Soto Zen Mission; and four individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; and League of Women Voters of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that severe coastal erosion at Mantokuji Bay in Paia, Maui, threatens homes, cultural sites, transportation routes, and natural ecosystems. Your Committee further finds that existing parcel‑by‑parcel regulatory processes hinder comprehensive regional solutions and that effective protection requires addressing Mantokuji Bay as a natural coastal cell for specific regional costal remediation. Your Committee recognizes that traditional regulatory processes make approval of bay-wide restrictions difficult due to overlapping jurisdictions and rigid requirements. This measure establishes a five‑year pilot program to implement bay‑wide coastal resilience strategies using streamlined procedures while maintaining necessary environmental and cultural protections.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Development & Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3169, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development & Technology,

____________________________

GREGGOR ILAGAN, Chair