STAND. COM. REP. NO. 335

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1521

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Education and Water, Land, and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 1521 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AQUATIC RESOURCES,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Allow the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology of the University of Hawaii to use staff of the Department of Land and Natural Resources to provide security at Moku‑o-loe Island (Coconut Island); and

 

     (2)  Exempt the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology from state permitting requirements for repair and maintenance at Coconut Island.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology of the University of Hawaii.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and one individual.

 

     Your Committees find that Coconut Island is a unique marine environment requiring special security considerations that the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology is unable to provide on its own at this time.  Your Committees further find that state and county permit processes have hindered the ability of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology to conduct necessary repairs and maintenance at Coconut Island. 

 

     In consultation with the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and the Department of Land and Natural Resources, your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Exempting the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology from county permit requirements for the repair and maintenance of its facilities at Coconut Island;

 

     (2)  Adding a sunset date of July 1, 2016; and

 

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency. 

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Water, Land, and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1521, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1521, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Water, Land, and Housing,

 

____________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

 

____________________________

JILL TOKUDA, Chair