STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3314
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.C.R. No. 146
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Twenty-Ninth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2018
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 146 entitled:
"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING ACTIONS TO RESTORE AND RESERVE THE KAWAINUI-HAMAKUA MARSH COMPLEX AND PREPARATION OF A COMPREHENSIVE WETLANDS ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION PLAN, A DETAILED WATERBIRD HABITAT RESTORATION PLAN, AND A COMPREHENSIVE WETLANDS MANAGEMENT PLAN TO PROTECT HAWAII'S FOUR ENDANGERED WATERBIRDS AND VISITING MIGRATORY WATERBIRDS IN THE KAWAINUI-HAMAKUA MARSH COMPLEX,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to urge actions to restore and preserve the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex and preparation of a comprehensive wetlands ecosystem restoration plan, a detailed waterbird habitat restoration plan, and a comprehensive wetlands management plan to protect Hawaii's four endangered waterbirds and visiting migratory waterbirds in the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle, Kanehili Cultural Hui, The Outdoor Circle, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, Hawaii Audubon Society, and twenty-six individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club, Hālau Mōhala ‘Ilima, Kawainui Marsh Environmental Education Initiative, Hika‘alani, Hui Kawainui-Kailua Ka Wai Ola, and five individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Your Committees
find that wetland
ecosystems play a vital role in nutrient cycling, water quality, endangered
species habitat, and flood and storm surge control. According to the Department of Land and
Natural Resources, in Hawaii, approximately thirty-one percent of coastal
lowland wetlands have been lost due to human impacts, and most of the remaining
wetlands are seriously degraded. The
850-acre wetland complex at Kawainui and Hāmākua is the largest freshwater
wetland in the State, however its functionality is limited. Years of degradation of the wetlands via
sedimentation, invasion of invasive species, and urbanization have drastically
altered the ecological and wildlife habitat function of the wetlands. This measure provides a comprehensive plan to restore
and preserve the Kawainui-Hāmākua
Marsh Complex, especially with respect to the protection of waterbirds.
Your Committees note the concerns raised in testimony submitted by various stakeholders that this measure may close access to the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex for all visitors, including individuals exercising Native Hawaiian cultural practices and gathering rights. Furthermore, stakeholders expressed concerns regarding the termination of month-to-month permits and long-term leases for use of state lands, termination of commercial activities on state land in or within a certain distance of the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex, and the location of public restrooms that are not connected to an existing municipal wastewater treatment facility.
Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Correcting the title to urge actions to preserve, rather than reserve, the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex;
(2) Clarifying that the Department of Land and
Natural Resources' draft management plan for the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex
recommends that the Board of Land and Natural Resources grant long-term leases
of state land to non-profit, rather than private, organizations to allow these
organizations to construct several buildings and restrooms with septic leach
fields adjacent to the wetlands, rather than within a few yards of the wetlands
that will be closed to the public;
(3) Removing
language regarding the estimated total cost of the Department of Land and
Natural Resources' draft management plan for the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex;
(4) Clarifying
that the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the City and County of
Honolulu are urged to address, rather than prioritize, the removal of the
central peat mat in Kawainui Marsh to prevent future flooding;
(5) Clarifying
that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is urged to close the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex to
all commercial and recreational activities, rather than all visitors, during
the wetland birds' nesting season;
(6) Adding
language that allows individuals to continue to exercise Native Hawaiian
cultural practices and gathering rights during the wetland birds' nesting
season at the Kawainui-Hāmākua
Marsh Complex;
(7) Removing
language that would have:
(A) Urged the Board of Land and Natural Resources to terminate the granting of month-to-month permits or long-term leases for use of state land within two thousand feet of the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex; and
(B) Urged the Board of Land and Natural Resources
to prohibit commercial activity on state land in or within two thousand feet of
the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex;
(8) Clarifying that the Board of Land and Natural
Resources is urged to prohibit all restrooms on state land within two thousand
feet of the Kawainui-Hāmākua Marsh Complex; and
(9) 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 Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 146, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 146, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment,
________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair |
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