STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1473

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.C.R. No. 159

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 159 entitled:

 

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO EXAMINE AND CONSIDER REEF INSURANCE TO SUPPORT NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS TO PROTECT HAWAII'S COASTLINES AND COASTAL INFRASTRUCTURE FROM NATURAL DISASTERS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to urge the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to examine and consider purchasing reef insurance to protect the State's coastlines and coastal infrastructure from natural disasters.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy, and one individual.

 

     Your Committees find that reefs are the first line of defense against the impacts of natural disasters to the State, such as marine heatwaves, beach erosion, and chronic flooding.  According to testimony received by your Committees, damages from sea level rise alone would result in over $19,000,000,000 in economic damages, not including the destruction of vulnerable coastal infrastructure and flooding of over thirty-eight miles of state roads and highways, which would severely limit trade and transportation throughout the State.  Your Committees note that given the priority projects associated with DLNR's Holomua:  Marine 30x30 Initiative, completing the requested investigation and report prior to the Regular Session of 2022 may require additional resources and capacity.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Amending the requested submission deadline for DLNR's report from prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2022 to prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

 

     (2)  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. 159, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 159, S.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment,

 

________________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair

 

________________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair