Bill Text: HI SB717 | 2012 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Abandoned Vessels; Disposition

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-12-01 - Carried over to 2012 Regular Session. [SB717 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-SB717-Amended.html

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STAND. COM. REP. NO. 269

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 717

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Water, Land, and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 717 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ABANDONED VESSELS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

(1)  Remove the authority of the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources to dispose of abandoned vessels found on private property; and

 

(2)  Make owners of public or private property responsible for and authorized for the disposition of abandoned vessels found on their respective property.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Ocean Tourism Coalition.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of the Corporation Counsel, City and County of Honolulu; Department of Parks and Recreation, City and County of Honolulu; and Department of Customer Services, City and County of Honolulu.

 

     Your Committee finds that the responsibility of disposing of all abandoned vessels currently rests with the Department of Land and Natural Resources.  In the last seven years, the Department has had to pay in excess of $750,000 to remove abandoned vessels.  Your Committee further finds that shifting the responsibility for disposing of abandoned vessels to the appropriate owners of property on which an abandoned vessel is located will alleviate strain on the Department's resources, while providing for a more efficient disposal process.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

(1)  Making the duty of the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources to take into custody and dispose of certain abandoned vessels mandatory rather than discretionary; and

 

(2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 717, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 717, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Housing,

 

		____________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair