Coalition wants dumping to
stop Environmental groups aim to
establish strict laws for cruise ships
By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com
Hawaii should ban cruise ship dumping in state waters, set aside money
to buy undeveloped scenic land and increase a land tax to pay for
protecting nature areas, says a coalition of environmental, native
Hawaiian and community organizations.
Environmental agenda
A public presentation of "Common Sense Conservation 2005" will be made
at 6 p.m. Thursday at the YWCA on Richards Street. The environmental
legislation briefing book is online at
www.hi.sierraclub.org/legislative.
Groups that presented their environmental agenda yesterday include the
Conservation Council of Hawaii, Life of the Land, the state Sierra
Club, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., Hawaii Clean Elections, KAHEA
(the Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance), Hawaii's Thousand Friends, the
Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Unsatisfied with an existing honor-system agreement between the Hawaii
and the cruise ship industry that it won't pollute, the groups are
calling for strict no-dumping laws like those recently enacted in
California and Maine, said Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club's
Hawaii chapter.
Another top issue is more funding for the state's 19 natural area
reserves, whose 109,000 acres include some of the most pristine
ecosystems in the state and habitat for endangered species.
The state spends about $1 million annually for the areas, but proper
stewardship would costs five times more, the groups say. They propose
doubling or quadrupling the state's conveyance tax and earmarking part
of the money for the natural area reserves. The tax, which is paid when
property is sold, is currently $1 per $1,000 of value.
Also a priority is the "Legacy Lands Act," which would earmark a
portion of the conveyance tax for purchasing undeveloped coastline,
watershed forests and other special places.
By making state money available to buy conservation lands, "the Legacy
Lands Act will help protect these areas by leveraging millions of
federal and private dollars," said Josh Stanbro, Hawaii project manager
for the Trust for Public Land.
Booklets outlining the coalition's proposals are being distributed to
lawmakers today.
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