STAND. COM. REP. 123

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 1407

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1407 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MARINE RESERVES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to protect, replenish, restore, and conserve the State's marine resources by requiring the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to create and manage a statewide marine reserves network consisting of marine reserves encompassing a minimum of 20 percent of the State's marine waters around each of the main Hawaiian islands.

The Ocean Law & Policy Institute of the Pacific Forum, Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter, The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, Kahea The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, Hawaii Audubon Society, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, Dive Makai Charters, Inc., and numerous concerned citizens submitted testimony in support of this bill. DLNR, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and two concerned individuals testified in support of the intent of this measure. Hawaii's Nearshore Fishermen and several concerned citizens submitted testimony in opposition to this measure.

 

Your Committee finds that the existing piecemeal, small, and scattered marine protected areas contribute to the declining health of the State's marine resources. A comprehensive statewide system of marine reserves can restore and protect the marine resources for generations to come, if not in perpetuity.

The interest in this bill expressed by competing stakeholders has not gone unnoticed by your Committee. Resources that affect almost every facet of life in Hawaii are expected to have a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

In addition to stakeholders' concerns, your Committee deems it prudent to further investigate the funding mechanisms of the program, inasmuch as the bill does not request legislative appropriations. Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by changing its effective date to July 1, 2004, to encourage further discussion on this important matter. Technical, nonsubstantive amendments were also made for purposes of style, conformity, and clarity.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1407, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1407, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs,

 

____________________________

EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair