KEKAHA – Several Kaua’i tour operators say they may be forced to close after the state legislature last month passed a bill that aimed to reduce the number of boating permits for commercial use.
The legislation, House Bill 1090, would allow the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to reduce commercial boating operations statewide by canceling permits and reissuing them based on various set limits. The DLNR says the bill would help manage overuse at some ports due to concerns about increased environmental impacts.
“This was done primarily to address the numerous complaints received by the Legislature and the department regarding the excessive commercialization of public facilities and the state’s near-coastal waters,” the DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation said in a statement. release.
The DLNR says the problem was caused by excessive permit issuance, after the department issued more permits than allowed under Hawaii Administrative Rules.
According to the DLNR statement, the department set limits on launch pads in 2014, but “there was a permit race” before the rules were finalized.
“The department did not have the authority to deny the issuance of commercial use permits unless specified in the rule.” As a result, “the department was unable to deny issuance of the permits” and the “proposed limits were quickly exceeded,” the department said.
A total of 23 launch pads across the state have a maximum number of business permits, with limits ranging from zero to 15, per Hawaii Code R. 13-231-67.
The limit set for the Kikiaoloa small boat harbor in Kekaha is 10 permits, an area where tour operators say the DLNR has issued at least 25.
If HB 1090 is enacted, Kikiaola operators could lose around 15 permits, with the maximum 10 permits reissued to operators using a seniority-based system.
‘It doesn’t feel fair’
Married couple Jessie and Nick Croft are one of many Kikiaola operators who say they risk losing their business. The Crofts started Explore Kaua’i Scuba in 2015 after purchasing a permit for Kikiaola through a transfer from another boat owner.
Jessie Croft said she first learned of HB 1090 on May 19, just a couple of weeks after the Legislature passed the bill.
“This is the first day I haven’t been crying myself to sleep,” she said in an interview with The Garden Island last week.
The husband and wife team are the only two employees of the dive company and take small groups of six people or less on tours and dives.
“We are not a real big business. But we have a lot of regular customers who come here every year to dive with us. And we are getting our name out there,” Jessie Croft said, adding that they were excited to have been featured on the travel app “Kauai Revealed” earlier this year.
In November 2022, they took out a $200,000 loan to upgrade from a raft to a 20-foot boat.
“Now, we have to pay off all that debt,” he said, noting that they had recently started turning a small profit.
As a smaller, newer company, Croft said she and her husband would lose their business if permits are reissued on a seniority-based system.
“I hate how they phrase it. It’s like, ‘We’re just not going to renew this permit.’ But what is really happening is that they are literally taking over our business,” she said.
“There are worse things in the world. But it’s only when you put everything you’ve got into something, and it can be taken in a second, it’s crazy. It just doesn’t feel fair.”
Candice Lecroix is a captain and manager at the Na Pali Experience, a larger boat business that also operates tours from Kikiaoloa.
“Most of (operators) will have to shut down or downsize to the point where they will have to lay off most of their employees,” he said.
“We are looking at over 100 people who will become unemployed if this bill is signed in this way,” Lecroix said.
Born and raised in Kekaha, she has been working on boats since she was 17 years old.
“The people who choose to do this will make this their life. They love that area more than anyone and are passionate about it,” she said.
Lecroix also pointed to the lack of jobs available to people on the island.
“There are no races here for local people to stay, and it’s just a big industry that employs a lot of people on the west side and actually provides a living wage,” he said.
‘I should be worried’
A joint Instagram post by the Napali Experience and its sister company, Napali Pirates, asks for the public’s help in stopping HB 1090.
The publication states that the Ocean Tourism Coalition, a 501(C)(6) corporation made up of ocean tourism business owners, filed HB 1090 in collaboration with DLNR.
But Tim Lyons, the OTC’s chief executive, said that statements on social media have incorrectly portrayed the OTC as the driving force behind the DLNR bill.
“We didn’t introduce the bill,” Lyons said in an interview with The Garden Island. “We don’t want the bill, period.”
OTC Chairman James Coon submitted written testimony requesting that HB 1090 be approved in its current form, but Lyons clarified that the organization only supported a seniority-based method rather than a lottery system for reissues. permissions.
Lyons said the OTC was “up against the wall” in reaching an agreement with some lawmakers after successfully shutting down previous versions of the bill and speaking out against fellow Senate Bill 1080.
“Many legislators were telling us during the legislative session that ‘you’ve managed to get off the bill for three years. But guess what, something has to go away,’” he said. “Our position was that if something has to move, the antique would be much better than an auction or a lottery.”
The DLNR’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation said in its statement that it “will work to develop a plan to work with all affected commercial operators across the country” if HB 1090 becomes law. The statement does not provide further details on how the department would work with the carriers.
The OTC recently released its own statement, saying the bill is an attempt by the DLNR to “solve a problem of its own creation.”
“Even though the department has responded by saying, ‘We’re going to try to take care of those people,’ I don’t know what they think they’re going to do. I don’t know how they are going to take care of them. And if I were (a tour operator), I wouldn’t feel any relief from that statement,” Lyons said. “People should be worried.”
HB 1090 is currently sitting on the governor’s desk, where Governor Josh Green has until July 11 to veto, sign, or allow the bill to become law without his signature.
•••
emma grunwaldreporter, he can be reached at 808-652-0638 or [email protected].
