STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1148

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1304

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Water and Land and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1304, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

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

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Require a permit from the Department of Land and Natural Resources before holding a regatta, marine parade, or surfing contest, unless prior authorization has been secured from the Coast Guard;

 

     (2)  Allow the Department of Land and Natural Resources to assess and collect a fee for processing permits;

 

     (3)  Require permit applications to be submitted no less than forty-five days prior before the start of the proposed event; and

 

     (4)  Require the Department of Land and Natural Resources to approve or deny a permit within thirty days of receiving a completed application or, if the Department does not do so, deem the application to be approved.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Handsome Bugga Productions, Pailolo SUP Sports LLC, and two individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

 

     Your Committees find that regattas, marine parades, and surfing contests are events that promote the State's natural beauty and ocean resources and generate community and international goodwill.  Your Committees further find that establishing a permit process as proposed by this measure will encourage responsible planning and preparation of events, and balance the needs and resources of permit applicants and the State in issuing the permits.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Allowing permit applications to be submitted up to one year before the start of a proposed event;

 

     (2)  Clarifying that the Department of Land and Natural Resources shall use its best efforts to approve or deny a permit within thirty days of receiving a completed application;

 

     (3)  Removing the provision that an application is deemed approved if the completed application is not approved or denied within thirty days of submission;

 

     (4)  Requiring the Department of Land and Natural Resources to collect a $250 deposit that is nonrefundable if an event is cancelled within sixty days of the start of the event;

 

     (5)  Clarifying that the Department of Land and Natural Resources may, rather than shall, adopt rules necessary to effectuate this measure; and

 

     (6)  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 Water and Land and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1304, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1304, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

 

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

 

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair