House debate highlights concerns over 25-year submerged-land easements for seawalls and shoreline structures

Members of the Hawaii House debated multiple standing committee reports recommending the issuance of 25-year nonexclusive easements for structures fronting personal property on state submerged lands, including authorizations for a seawall at Ewa Beach on O‘ahu.

Representative Iwamoto, speaking on the rules governing shoreline hardening, referenced the Legislature’s 2020 Act 16 (codified provisions prohibiting private shoreline hardening at sand-beach sites or where such structures interfere with recreational and shoreline activities). He and other members said the instances now before the House involve situations where seawalls or revetments have effectively become hardening structures over time and may remove public beach area.

Representative Iwamoto and Representative Iwamoto’s colleagues (several members rose in opposition or offered reservations) described cases in which originally decorative or landscaping walls had become constructively seawalls due to erosion and sea-level changes. Representative Iwamoto said this situation illustrated the law’s intent to prevent loss of public shoreline. Other members supporting the easements explained that in some cases the proposed work involved rebuilding stairs or retracted elements that do not extend into the ocean.

Floor action on the standing committee reports proceeded by voice votes; some members formally recorded “opposition” or “with reservations” before the motions were carried. No final easement instruments were executed on the floor; committee referrals and recommendations were advanced for further processing consistent with House procedure.

The discussion underscored tension between protecting public submerged lands and responding to property-specific erosion issues; members repeatedly noted the need for case-by-case review and adherence to the statutory limits established in 2020.