STAND. COM. REP. 3215

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 1743

H.D. 2

S.D. 2

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 1743, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LIGHT POLLUTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit artificial lights that are positioned toward or directly illuminate the ocean, unless those lights are authorized and required for public safety or safe ocean navigation.

Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance; Conservation Council for Hawai`i; Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter; Hawaii Audubon Society; Portlock Community Association; Hawai`i Wildlife Fund; Earthtrust; and fourteen individuals. Testimony in opposition to the measure was submitted by the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Planning and Permitting; Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii; and Hawai`i Hotel & Lodging Association.

Your Committee finds that artificial lighting shining on the ocean or illuminating ocean waters can cause the death of hatching sea turtles, fledgling shearwaters, nocturnal flying sea birds and migratory birds. Your Committee further finds that artificial lights can adversely affect the behavior of fish and harm corals that naturally spawn during a full moon by causing them to spawn artificially during the dark phase of the moon cycle. Your Committee believes that a prohibition against those artificial lights that pose a hazard to nocturnally active wildlife is imperative to protect those animals from serious harm. Your Committee, however, also heard the concerns of hotel operators that a blanket prohibition would be overly broad and unduly restrict their ability to use lighting in limited areas with little or no marine life activity to lure manta rays as attractions for guests.

Accordingly, your Committee amended this measure by:

(1) Adding language to the purpose section providing for an exception for certain fixtures for hotels and hotel-condos;

(2) Adding an additional new section to chapter 205 providing for an exception for outdoor lighting fixtures in hotels/hotel-condos that are under water or directed downward and illuminate a limited area of no more than thirty feet into the ocean waters;

(3) Correcting the defective effective date to July 1, 2004; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for conformity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1743, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1743, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair