STAND. COM. REP. NO. 51-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2306

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2306 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NONCOMMERCIAL PIERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide more time for owners of unauthorized piers to submit survey maps to the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), sign new leases with DLNR, and legalize their piers, by extending the sunset date of Act 261, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, by four years from June 30, 2005, to June 30, 2009.

An individual submitted testimony in support of this bill. DLNR commented on the bill and recommended an amendment.

Your Committee finds that unauthorized piers constructed by private individuals in Kaneohe Bay use ceded lands without authorization or payment and are a problem that has persisted for several decades. DLNR has been diligently working on the amnesty program to legalize these unauthorized piers and begin collecting lease rents.

To date, DLNR has completed preparation of an environmental assessment and conservation district use application, and has used a formula to determine rent. On August 24, 2001, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the issuance of pier leases. Currently, 159 leases have been approved and four have been fully executed.

DLNR testified, and your Committee agrees, that four years would be excessive and may serve to further delay compliance by pier owners, whereas two years should be sufficient to complete the program.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Replacing the proposed 2009 sunset date with a 2007 sunset date; and

(2) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for purposes of consistency.

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. 2306, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2306, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

 

____________________________

EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair