RELATING TO MARINE AFFAIRS.
SB2907 declares Hawaii to be an “ocean cluster” and creates a new statutory framework to promote the State’s blue economy. The bill establishes an Office of Marine Affairs within the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation for administrative purposes, along with a Marine Affairs Governing Board and a Marine Affairs Coordinator. The office is tasked with developing and implementing statewide strategies for marine affairs and ocean technology, including research and education, ecosystem management, coastal resilience, fisheries and ocean-based food systems, marine tourism, conservation, transportation and logistics, and technology-enabled industries such as autonomous maritime navigation, port electrification, marine biotechnology, and ocean observation systems.
The measure also shifts marine-affairs responsibilities away from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism by repealing its existing statutory powers and duties in this area. It transfers the functions, personnel, records, and related property of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Marine Affairs to the new office and preserves employee status and benefits during the transition. The coordinator is required to prepare annual reports to the governor and legislature and to recommend policies, programs, and legislation to strengthen Hawaii’s competitiveness in ocean-related industries.
The bill amends Chapter 206M, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by adding a new marine affairs part and repealing section 201-13, which previously assigned marine-affairs duties to DBEDT. It places marine-affairs coordination under the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation, creates a new board structure with state agency, university, OHA, and private-sector representation, and authorizes a coordinator position appointed by the governor. The act would reorganize state marine-economy governance, centralize planning and coordination, and formalize a statewide strategy for blue-economy development while expressly stating that the new office should not supplant the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ resource-management priorities.
The bill appears to have broad support and little recorded opposition. It passed Senate committees unanimously or near-unanimously, including Agriculture and Environment, Economic Development and Technology, and Ways and Means, and later passed conference with no recorded dissent. The voting history suggests a generally favorable view of the bill as an economic-development and ocean-policy measure, with lawmakers advancing it through both chambers and enrolling it to the governor.
The main structural issue in the bill is the reorganization of marine-affairs authority: it removes DBEDT’s existing statutory role and transfers functions to the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation and the new Office of Marine Affairs. That shift could raise questions about agency jurisdiction, coordination with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and the balance between economic development and natural-resource protection. The bill addresses some of those concerns by stating that the office must integrate with DLNR’s work and by including conservation, stewardship, and coastal resilience in its mandate, but the governance change and the creation of a new coordinator position remain the key policy and administrative changes.