OPPOSE HB732 HD2 SD1: Protect Hawaiʻi’s shorelines
/Help protect Hawaiʻi’s shorelines from ill-advised coastal development! HB732 HD2 SD1 threatens the long-term health of our shorelines by allowing more coastal development projects to bypass the public hearing and other requirements of a Special Management Area (SMA) use permit.
With a destabilizing climate, rising sea levels, and the ongoing erosion of federal regulatory protections, we must be ever more mindful of the impacts that development may have on our fragile but vital nearshore and coastal environment. This bill would do the exact opposite, by raising the dollar threshold at which a SMA use permit is required - from $500,000 to $750,000, plus future adjustments for inflation.
This means more and more coastal projects will be allowed to bypass the comprehensive review and public hearing processes required for the issuance of SMA use permits. Permitting agency staff may instead approve such projects under relatively ministerial SMA “minor” permits - without even knowing about local conditions and the environmental, cultural, social, and physical impacts that should be considered and accounted for. This in turn would jeopardize not only the integrity of our coastlines but the rights and interests of cultural practitioners; fishers, surfers, and other ocean users; resident and tourist beachgoers; and even shoreline property owners.
There is nothing “minor” about coastal development, and rising construction costs shouldnʻt make us turn our back to our rising seas. HB732 HD2 SD1 may be well-intended but is misguided in its attempt to erode our coastal zone management laws in favor of fast-tracked coastal development.
HB732 HD2 SD1 has been scheduled for its final committee hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, April 3 at 10:01am in room 16 (watch online here). Please take a moment to submit testimony in opposition to this problematic measure that threatens the well-being of Hawaiʻi’s public shorelines and our communities who depend on a healthy nearshore environment. Sample testimony and instructions below. Note: No verbal testimony will be accepted on Thursday, so your written testimony is critical!
Sample testimony for HB732 HD2 SD1
Aloha Chair Rhoads, Vice Chair Gabbard, and members of the Judiciary Committee,
My name is [Your name] and I strongly oppose HB732 HD2 SD1, which would open the door to ever more coastal development projects to bypass Special Management Area (SMA) use permit requirements - placing our fragile and vital coastal areas and nearshore resources at risk of undue harm.
Climate destabilization, sea level rise, and increasingly severe storms and floods not only threaten our fragile coastal ecosystems, but also our associated cultural, subsistence, and recreational practices and activities; public shoreline access; existing coastal infrastructure and buildings; and ocean-based visitor industry. This means we must enhance, and not weaken, protections against the potential harms of coastal development, including in particular the robust public input and review requirements of SMA use permits.
This bill instead does the opposite, by reducing the types of coastal development projects that would be subject to the oversight, transparency, and accountability requirements of SMA use permits issued under the Coastal Zone Management Act. The under-informed project approvals that result would in turn irreparably harm our beaches and shoreline areas, and the myriad public rights and interests that they support.
There is nothing “minor” about coastal development, and rising construction costs shouldnʻt make us turn our back to our rising seas. I urge the Committee to HOLD HB732 HD2 SD1.
Mahalo for your consideration,
[Your Name]
Testimony instructions
Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)
Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.
Enter "HB732" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."
Input your information and your written testimony (no verbal testimony will be accepted)