SR 59 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

URGING THE OFFICE OF PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TO CONSULT WITH THE KAHANA BAY STEERING COMMITTEE, COUNTY OF MAUI, DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, AND UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS REGARDING A PATH FORWARD FOR THE PROPOSED KAHANA BAY EROSION MITIGATION PROJECT.

SR 59 is a Senate resolution urging Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources to consult with the Kahana Bay Steering Committee, Maui County, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about moving forward with the stalled Kahana Bay Erosion Mitigation Project. The resolution addresses a $26-40 million project to restore eroded beaches, focusing on resolving disputes over ownership of protective rock groins and exploring whether the Army Corps could manage the project under federal law. It specifically directs agencies to consider legal options for groin ownership, Army Corps involvement, and financing alternatives, with a requirement to submit a progress report to the Legislature by December 2025. This resolution directly affects coastal property owners, the Steering Committee, and state/federal agencies involved in the project.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Sub-Topics: Coastal & Flood Protection

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 7, 2025 Last action Apr 1, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SR59 → SR59_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from a traditional legislative document to a structured digital format with metadata fields. The substantive policy change is that the resolution now urges the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development instead of the Department of Land and Natural Resources to lead consultations on the Kahana Bay erosion mitigation project, and the resolution's title was updated to reflect this change. The resolution also added a new provision stating that the County of Maui has not promulgated rules to implement community facilities district financing.

Scope change

The primary agency responsible for consultation was changed from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, shifting the lead agency for the project oversight.

SCOPE

The lead agency for consultation was changed from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new finding that the County of Maui has not promulgated rules to implement the community facilities district financing program.

TIMELINE

Updated the report submission deadline to December 31, 2025, and changed the recipient of the report from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

TECHNICAL

The document format was converted from a traditional legislative text to a structured digital format with metadata fields, including version control and timestamp information.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate. No roll call record of that vote is available.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report and Resolution Adopted as amended (SD1). Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 1 (Senator(s) Awa).

upper

Mar 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported from WTL (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1380) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Mar 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WTL recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WTL were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Inouye, Elefante, Chang, McKelvey, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WTL has scheduled a public hearing on 03-17-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 11, 2025

Committee

Referred to WTL.

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Introduced

Offered.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors