HB1162 Summary

• Establishes a visitor impact fee program administered by the Department of Land and Natural Resources requiring visitors age 15 and older to obtain a license before visiting designated state-owned parks, beaches, forests, trails, and natural areas.

• Sets the visitor impact fee at $50 per license, valid for one year, with authority to increase the fee by rule no more than once every five years if deemed insufficient to offset visitor impacts.

• Creates a visitor impact fee special fund to receive revenue from licenses and fines, to be used for protecting, restoring, and managing Hawaii's natural and cultural resources impacted by visitor usage.

• Authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to allocate fund moneys for state agency projects, grants to counties and nonprofits (capped at 50% of annual revenue), federal cost-matching funds, and program administration.

• Appropriates $3,000,000 from general revenues and $1,000,000 from the special fund for fiscal year 2023-2024 to establish four full-time positions and develop a strategic implementation plan.