Editorial: Urgent need to protect coastlines

Shoreline hardening and the loss of Hawaii’s beaches to erosion and sea-level rise are growing concerns for all the state’s residents, as those living inland share the public right of access to and enjoyment of Hawaii’s beaches and coastal areas.

The state Legislature has been called on to intervene and make law that would protect coastlines, and the issue is working its way into statewide elections, as candidates weigh in on “managed retreat,” or moving away from eroding shorelines.

In Tuesday’s election, Honolulu County will vote on Charter Question 2, which would require Honolulu’s Planning Commission to have at least one member with substantial experience or expertise in climate change and sea level rise causes, effects and solutions, or environmental protection and preservation. (We recommend voters approve the amendment.)

Along Oahu’s North Shore, in particular, an advancing ocean is causing crisis conditions. One house has fallen onto the beach, and several others are at risk of collapse.

It’s urgent, in other words, that the state and counties make protecting the coastline a priority. This will require clear policy, coordination between agencies across jurisdictions and firm enforcement of regulations.

Last week, a report by the North Shore Coastal Resilience Working Group emphasized the need. It warns that structures, roads, infrastructure and public lands in low-lying coastal areas are endangered now, and that threat will grow with high-tide flooding over the next 15 years.

Most beaches on Oahu are eroding, the report states, and the North Shore is hardest hit.

Working group recommendations include clear limits for emergency sandbags and tarps, which interfere with naturally shifting sands; stronger enforcement when unauthorized materials are dumped on the shoreline; and better coordination between state and local government agencies tasked with coastal regulation. These recommendations are reasonable and necessary, and should be acted upon by the state and counties.

The Surf­rider Foundation and other working group members plan to back three bills to address the problem during the next legislative session. The Legislature must see to it that the bills are brought to the floor, crafted to authorize swift, productive state action and ultimately adopted.

One bill would set statewide limits on how long property owners can keep emergency sandbags and tarps on the beach, and specify that emergency permits cannot be granted to protect against chronic coastal erosion, which environmental advocates say is no “emergency,” but ongoing.

Another bill would create a single coastal management entity to handle permitting, fines and enforcement, whereas now state and county offices may have overlapping authority that may lead to neither taking action.

Finally, these groups advocate for law to advance managed shoreline retreat.

Aside from legislative action, the report should also inform public comment and give sharper focus to new rules being proposed by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL) to govern emergency permits for temporary barriers installed by property owners on eroding coasts.

OCCL’s proposed rules would tighten requirements. Property owners would have to go to the Board of Land and Natural Resources for permit approval and present a long-term plan for the property, including barrier removal.

It’s a step in the right direction, but the rules should go further to include firm time limits on temporary barriers, mandatory financial guarantees by property owners and enforcement requirements.

OCCL will present these proposed rules to the Land Board in advance of a public hearing. When that hearing is announced, those who support stronger measures to preserve Hawaii’s beaches must speak up and call for action.