Bill Text: HI HB1457 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Hawaiian Beach Sand
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-02-02 - Referred to EEP, OMH/WAL, referral sheet 6 [HB1457 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2015-HB1457-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1457 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to natural resources.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii is losing its beaches at an alarming rate due to chronic shoreline retreat and shoreline armoring. A rise in sea levels will accelerate beach loss in the future. A recent study by the University of Hawaii and United States Geological Survey found that seventy per cent of beaches in Hawaii are eroding and over thirteen miles of beach have been lost to erosion over the past century. Rates of coastal erosion and beach loss are certain to increase in the coming decades with continued climate warming and an accelerating rise in sea levels.
The department of land and natural resources is responsible for the management of coastal resources, including beaches and dunes. The department has promoted adaptive sediment management techniques to mitigate erosion and beach loss in some areas, including beach scraping, stream mouth clearing, and sand bypassing and back-passing. To be effective, some of these maintenance activities must be conducted on a recurring basis.
Unfortunately, efforts by government and private entities to mitigate beach loss have been hampered by state water quality regulations that severely inhibit the use of sediment management as an erosion management tool. The reason is that Hawaiian beach sand has been interpreted to be a "water pollutant" under state water quality regulations. As a result, sand that is cleared from stream mouths or channels is often removed from the beach system because it is considered a "water pollutant." In addition, it has become extremely arduous to obtain the permits necessary for sediment management projects because, based on the State's interpretation of the federal Clean Water Act, clean locally-sourced beach sand is considered to be a "water pollutant."
The purpose of this Act is to exclude Hawaiian beach sand from the definition of "water pollutant", thereby enabling the use of such sand to support sediment management projects to mitigate erosion on Hawaii's beaches with no adverse effects on water quality or marine and benthic resources beyond those occurring naturally due to wave action, currents, and littoral transport. It is not the intent of this Act to circumvent the provisions of the federal Clean Water Act or the State's water quality regulations. Rather it is simply to clarify that Hawaiian beach sand is a naturally occurring material along the State's beaches and does not constitute a "water pollutant."
SECTION 2. Section 342D-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "water pollutant" to read as follows:
""Water pollutant" means dredged
spoil, solid refuse, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge,
munitions, chemical waste, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat,
wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, soil, sediment, cellar dirt and
industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste[.]; provided that
"water pollutant" shall not include naturally-occurring beach sand
sourced from a Hawaiian beach, stream mouth, or channel that is used on an
adjacent beach for the purposes of beach erosion mitigation, sediment
management, beach restoration, erosion control, or dune restoration."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed
is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Hawaiian Beach Sand
Description:
Clarifies that Hawaiian beach sand is not considered a "water pollutant."
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
