State Seal

 

DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES

 

News Release

     LINDA LINGLE              

           GOVERNOR

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                              PETER T. YOUNG, CHAIRPERSON

                                                                                                                                              Phone: (808) 587-0401

                                                                                                                                              Fax: (808) 587-0390

                                                                                                                                             

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release: March 6, 2006

  

DLNR To Hold Public Hearings On Proposed Changes
To State's Shoreline Certification Rules

HONOLULU— The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) will hold public hearings statewide, beginning Thursday, March 9, 2006 to receive public testimony on proposed amendments to Chapter 13-222, Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR) regarding shoreline certifications.

Currently, the definition of “shoreline” under the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR’s) shoreline certification rules differs from that of the definition under Chapter 205A-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes. The BLNR recently approved a change so the rule mirrors the law.

“There needs to be consistency not only in the definition of ‘shoreline,’ but also in the on-site practice of evaluating all evidence in determining the certified shore,” said DLNR chairperson Peter Young. “The proposed rules amendment will result in consistent language between the statute and rule,” he said.

Under Chapter 13-222-2, the “shoreline” is defined as “the upper reaches of the wash of the waves, other than storm or tidal waves, at high tide during the season of the year in which the highest wash of the waves occurs, usually evidenced by the edge of vegetation growth, or where there is no vegetation in the immediate vicinity , the upper limit of debris left by the wash of the waves.”

The underscored clause is extra language not found in the statute.

The plain terms of this clause appear to reduce interpretation by establishing the vegetation line as the preferred proxy for the shoreline and relegating the debris line to a secondary proxy to be considered only “where there is no vegetation in the immediate vicinity.”

This emphasis on the vegetation line had in past led to an emphasis by the surveying community on vegetation, often to the exclusion of other important evidence such as debris lines, scarping on the beach, coastal dune location, changes in vegetation, natural vs. induced vegetation, wave buoy data, an other important evidence of the high wash of the waves.

The present language of the rule and its interpretation had, in some cases resulted in shoreline
delineations that were too far seaward of their proper location by over-reliance on vegetation.

A copy of the rule amendments is available on-line at: www.state.hi.us/dlnr/occl/Rules.php.

Materials are available for review between 7:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday:
- in Honolulu at the DLNR Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, Kalanimoku Building, Room 131, 1151 Punchbowl St.,
- at the Kauai District Land Office, 3060 Eiwa St. Room 306, Lihue, Kauai,
- at the Maui District Land Office, 54 High Street, Room 101, Wailuku, Maui, and
- at the Hawaii District Land Office, 75 Aupuni Street, Room 204, Hilo, Hawaii.

The proposed rule amendments may also be mailed to interested parties for a fee of $1.00.

Hearings will begin at 6 p.m. on the following dates and locations:
Kauai -- March 9, 2006 at State Office Building, 3060 Eiwa Street, conference rooms A, B, and C, in Lihue.
Maui -- March 16, 2006 at the Velma “McWayne” Santos Community Center, Main Hall, 395 Waena Place, Wailuku.
Hilo -- March 23, 2006 at the State Office Building, 75 Aupuni Street, 1st floor, conference rooms A, B, and C.
Kona -- March 30, 2006 at the Kealakehe High School Auditorium, 74-5000 Puohulihuli Street,
Honolulu -- April 6, 2006 at the Kalanimoku State Office Building, 1151 Punchbowl Street, room 132.

At the public hearing or within 15 days following the close of the public hearing, any person may file with the Board a written protest or other comments or recommendations in support of or in opposition to the proposed rulemaking. The Board of Land and Natural Resources shall take final action on this rulemaking at a future regularly scheduled Board meeting.

Disabled individuals planning to attend the hearing are asked to contact the DLNR at the above address or phone Dawn Hegger at 587-0380 at least three days in advance of the public
hearing to indicate if they have special needs which require accommodation.


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For more information, media contact:
Clifford Inn
DLNR Education and Outreach Coordinator
Phone: (808) 587-0407
Clifford.G.Inn@hawaii.gov