STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1010

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.C.R. No. 40

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Tourism and Business and Economic Development, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 40 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM, AND THE HAWAII TOURISM AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT A CARRYING CAPACITY STUDY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and the Hawaii Tourism Authority to conduct a carrying capacity study.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from one individual. Testimony in opposition to this measure was received from the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Comments on this measure were received from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.

Your Committees find that it is essential to discern the volume of visitors the State can sustain given its ability to provide lodging and accommodations, as well as the limits on the use of its natural resources and infrastructure. While the Legislature recognizes the positive attributes and economic benefits of the tourist industry, the significant growth of that industry has caused residents of communities throughout the State to express frustration over the increased burden on local infrastructure and their neighborhoods. As such, your Committees request that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and the Hawaii Tourism Authority conduct a carrying capacity study to determine a concrete number for current and projected carrying capacity for the State.

Your Committees further find that this same request has been legislated in the past. Section 3 of Act 160, Session Laws of Hawaii 1990, amended the state planning law to require a maximum annual visitor carrying capacity study for the State to be conducted by region, county, and island at appropriate intervals, but not less than once every five years. In 2001, $1,200,000 was allocated for economic planning and research to study the carrying capacity of Hawaii for tourism in Act 259, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001, section 74, and a progress report was to be submitted to the Legislature prior to the convening of the 2002 and 2003 Regular Sessions. This mandate was not completed as a carrying capacity study, but instead was changed into a sustainability study that is being conducted presently.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Naming the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism as the body designated to carry out the capacity study with the support of the Hawaii Tourism Authority;

(2) Noting that the legislature has requested the Department to conduct a carrying capacity in the past and requesting it to fulfill its past obligation to conduct such a study;

(3) Altering the carrying capacity study from the twenty-five individual State Senatorial Districts to East Oahu including Waikiki, West Oahu, North Shore, Windward Oahu including Kaneohe and Kailua, and each of the neighbor islands;

(4) Noting that the carrying capacity study will help determine the appropriate allocation of funding for numerous tourism-related legislation that is introduced every session; and

(5) Directing the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to take into consideration the most recent sustainability study conducted by the Department and any other necessary information to produce a carrying capacity number.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Tourism and Business and Economic Development that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 40, as amended herein, and recommend referral to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Tourism and Business and Economic Development,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair

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DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair