OPPOSE SB3148: No Private Beaches
/One of the worst bills we have ever seen, seeking to allow the Board of Land and Natural Resources to privatize beaches and other public lands without even considering impacts to public use, access, and enjoyment, has a hearing this Wednesday at 1:01pm before the Senate Water, Land, Culture and the Arts Committee in room 224. Please submit testimony on this Governor’s package measure, SB3148 - sample verbiage below - and let our legislators know that the DLNR’s attempt to abdicate its public trust kuleana is simply unacceptable.
What this bills does
🛑 SB3148 seeks to allow public lands - including beaches - to be leased or otherwise used exclusively by private entities like hotels and resorts, without any consideration of potential impacts to public use, access, or enjoyment.
Why this is important
🛑 SB3148 seeks to allow the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to treat private and exclusive hotel and resort uses of public lands and beaches as "public uses" under the public trust doctrine, entitled to a favorable presumption equal to or superseding the public's right to use, access, and enjoy these places. In other words, this bill would justify the privatization of our public beaches as consistent with the public trust.
Sample Testimony for SB3148
Aloha Chair Lee, Vice Chair Inouye, and Members of the Committee,
My name is [your name] and I am STRONGLY OPPOSED to SB3148.
This Governor's package bill is a shameless, confused attempt by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to ignore the public's right to use, access, and enjoy public lands and beaches, when allowing hotels and resorts to lease and exclude the public from such spaces for decades or longer.
As described in this measure's justification sheet, this bill intends to make private activities listed under HRS §171-10 equal to public use under the public trust doctrine. Doing so would create a favorable presumption in favor of hotel and resort uses of public lands and beaches under the public trust - even when such uses would exclude the public.
In other words, the DLNR, through this bill, is trying to make the privatization of our beaches a default option under the public trust.
It is dumbfounding to see the primary trustee agency for our public trust lands, waters, and resources seek the ability to sell our public beaches to the highest bidder, for generations at a time. Unfortunately, this is not the first time the DLNR has failed to demonstrate an understanding of the public trust, its duties under the trust, or the incredible harms that it can inflict and has inflicted, through the abdication of its trust obligations to present and future generations.
Please do not let the DLNR sell out our public beaches and undermine the rights of our present and future generations under the public trust, for nothing more than its administrative convenience. Please HOLD this terribly misguided measure.
Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify,
[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 "SB3148” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."
Input your information, select “OPPOSE”, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able!
Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.
If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).
Don’t forget to spread the word!