HB 549 Summary

• Amends Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 205A (Coastal Zone Management Act) to strengthen protections for beaches and coastal areas in response to sea level rise and coastal erosion.

• Adds new definitions for "beach" as a dynamic coastal system providing public recreation, ecosystem benefits, and natural hazard barriers, and "coastal hazards" including tsunami, hurricanes, flooding, erosion, and sea level rise.

• Establishes new beach protection objective requiring protection of beaches and coastal dunes for public use, coastal ecosystem benefits, and natural barriers against coastal hazards, with coordination and funding for beach management.

• Modifies coastal development standards to prohibit private shoreline hardening structures (seawalls and revetments) at sites with beaches and minimizes public construction of such structures; restricts single-family residence exemptions to exclude properties impacted by waves, storm surge, or shoreline erosion.

• Increases minimum shoreline setback from 20 feet to 40 feet and restricts variance approvals for shoreline protection to exclude seawalls and revetments, with new language emphasizing coastal hazard minimization and prevention of flanking erosion.