In a companion measure to Senate Bill 2526, which relates to air pollution control for cruise ships in Nawiliwili Harbor, House Bill 2919 is scheduled for decision making today. As the Senate bill was introduced by Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i/Ni‘ihau,
In a companion measure to Senate Bill 2526, which relates to air pollution control for cruise ships in Nawiliwili Harbor, House Bill 2919 is scheduled for decision making today.
As the Senate bill was introduced by Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i/Ni‘ihau, the House bill was introduced by Rep. Mina Morita, D-14th District and Rep. Jimmy Tokioka, D-15th District.
“I introduced the bill because of concerns from residents,” Tokioka said. “My hope is to satisfy the community’s needs and hopefully have the cruise ships deal with the emissions.”
The bill proposes a ban on cruise ships burning bunker fuel within a 5-mile radius of Nawiliwili Harbor starting Dec. 31 of this year.
Niumalu residents will be the ones most likely to benefit from this bill, as the fumes from the cruise ships docked in Nawiliwili Harbor often drift through their community.
Gary Craft, a Niumalu resident, is pleased about the bill, but bothered that the community wasn’t notified of the bill or the committee meeting in which testimony was heard from the Department of Transportation, the Department of Health and Norwegian Cruise Lines. According to Craft, no testimony was taken from community residents.
“Residents were unable to provide testimony on HB2919 as we received notice of the meeting and bill only after it had occurred,” Craft said.
In his testimony, Alan Yamamoto, vice president of Hawai‘i Operations for NCL America Inc., said NCL takes seriously the issue of health and safety of those onboard the ship and those in the local communities in which NCL operates.
“We are sensitive to the concerns raised by the Niumalu community,” Yamamoto said in his testimony. “While we remain responsive to the concerns of the community, we believe that HB2919 as currently drafted is premature and raises a number of issues which must be resolved before the bill can be implemented.”
Yamamoto said the source of the odor still needs to be identified by the DOH Clean Air Branch and the fuel mentioned in the bill is currently unavailable in Hawai‘i. Because of this, Yamamoto said NCL requests that a fuel availability study be conducted to determine what fuels are available in Hawai‘i and the costs of the fuel products.
“NCL anticipates the cost to convert over to this fuel would be significant possibly adding thousands of dollars to each voyage and impacting bottom line,” Yamamoto said. “The option of converting to other fuels should be evaluated.”
Yamamoto finished his testimony by saying a comprehensive risk assessment needs to be done to evaluate the act of “fuel shifting” before the ship reaches the harbor.
“It was with utter disbelief that Alan Yamamoto would have the impropriety to record a statement relating resident’s health to increased operating expense,” Craft said in response to Yamamoto’s testimony. “Particularly to a legislative committee charged with protecting citizens from just this sort of issue.”
Craft said he has given Yamamoto information regarding the safety of fuel changes and information on cleaner fuel availability.
Although the Niumalu community missed its chance to testify, Tokioka said he would be surprised if the bill doesn’t pass today.
If the bill passes, it will go before the Transportation and Tourism Committee. Tokioka encourages the community to send testimony to his office in support of the bill.
“We want to hear from the people of Kaua‘i,” Tokioka said. “I truly support the community.”
As for Craft, he just wants the bills to go as far as possible. He said the bills still need community support and testimony.
“The Senate bill is still alive and we need as much e-mail and in-person testimony to move forward,” Craft said. “Residents are convinced that if all concerned with the cruise ship bunker fuel emission air pollution problem could simply sit in our living rooms when the plume is obvious they would support any and all efforts to immediately prevent further damage to Niumalu resident’s health.”
To send testimony on HB2919, e-mail Tokioka at reptokioka@capitol.hawaii.gov.
• Rachel Gehrlein, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or rgehrlein@kauaipubco.com.
