Hawaii-2012-HB2367-Introduced

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the marine life conservation program embodied in chapter 190, Hawaii Revised Statutes, has provided the State with some of its most ecologically, economically, and scientifically valuable environmental assets. The comprehensive habitat protections authorized for marine life conservation districts have resulted in the unparalleled preservation of several near-shore reef ecosystems, presenting visitors, residents, and researchers with the unique opportunity to appreciate these relatively pristine marine areas. In addition, the abundant marine life found in conservation districts provides additional ecological and fishery services, by the movement of fish and marine life to adjacent areas, the recruitment of marine life offspring throughout the State, and the ready availability of food stock for transitory predators and game fish.

The legislature further finds that the increasing popularity of these extremely valuable sites may require greater measures to ensure the continued health of the ecosystems they contain and represent. The broad range of documented anthropogenic impacts on coral reef health, including impacts from groundings, diving activities, poaching, anchoring and mooring, land and water-based pollutant discharges, and other direct and indirect uses of the State’s coral reefs, indicate that the department of land and natural resources may need a more consistent and reliable source of funding to maintain these unique areas and to conserve and protect coral reef resources throughout the State.

The purpose of this Act is to provide for a special fund allowing for the collection and use of moneys for the conservation, supplementation, and enhancement of the State’s marine resources and to authorize the collection of user fees for marine life conservation districts, as determined appropriate by the department of land and natural resources

SECTION 2. Chapter 190, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§190- Marine life conservation special fund; established (a) There is hereby established in the state treasury a special fund to be known as the marine life conservation special fund, which shall be administered by the department of land and natural resources.

(b) The following shall be deposited into the marine life conservation special fund:

(1) Moneys collected as nonresident user fees or fees for permits issued under section 190-4;

(2) Moneys collected as fines, attorneys fees, and administrative costs for violations of this chapter, or any rule adopted hereunder;

(3) Moneys collected for the purposes of compensatory mitigation from federal or state permitted impacts to the marine environment; or

(4) Grants, awards, donations, gifts, transfers, or moneys derived from private or public services for the purposes of this chapter.

(1) Fulfill the purposes of this chapter, including marine life conservation district monitoring, research, regulatory measures, enforcement actions, educational activities, or any other measure intended to conserve, supplement, and enhance the resources within any marine life conservation district established under this chapter or rules adopted hereunder;

(2) Provide management, monitoring, and support for public fishing areas, community-based subsistence fishing areas, fisheries management areas, and other areas of localized management;

(3) Develop and carry out any compensatory mitigation measures for impacts to the marine environment, including impacts to the marine environment from federal or state permitted actions or violations of this chapter or any rule adopted hereunder; or

(4) Develop and carry out research projects, educational programs, management initiatives, and any other activity intended to conserve, supplement, and enhance the marine environment throughout the State.

(d) The fund shall be held separate and apart from

all other moneys, funds, and accounts in the department of land and natural resources; provided that:

(1) Any moneys received from the federal government, through federal programs, or from private contributions shall be deposited and accounted for in accordance with conditions established by the agency or private entity from whom the moneys are received; and

(2) Twenty per cent of all funds collected under subsection (b)(1) be directed to the office of Hawaiian affairs as ceded lands revenues.

Any balance remaining in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall be carried forward in the fund for the next fiscal year."

SECTION 3. Section 190-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§190-4 Permits[.]and user fees. (a) The department of land and natural resources [~~may~~], in any conservation district, may prohibit the taking of marine life or the engaging in activities prohibited by this chapter and rules adopted hereunder, except by permit issued by it for scientific, education, or other public purposes on such terms and conditions deemed necessary to minimize any adverse effect within the conservation district; provided that the department shall provide written notice of any change in permit conditions ninety calendar days prior to the effective date of the change, except, as determined by the department, when an immediate change in permit conditions is necessary to protect or preserve the conservation district. The department may revoke any permit for any infraction of the terms and conditions of the permit. Any person whose permit has been revoked shall not be eligible to apply for another permit until the expiration of one year from the date of revocation.

(b) The department of land and natural resources may establish rules pursuant to chapter 91 to collect nonresident user fees or require permits for the entry into the boundaries of any marine life conservation district established under this chapter. Collected fees shall be deposited into the marine life conservation special fund."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2012.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2367
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII