STAND. COM. REP. NO.
Honolulu, Hawaii
APR 0 2 2025
RE: S.R. No. 150
S. D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2025
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to
which was referred S.R. No. 150 entitled:
"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OE
TRANSPORTATION TO SUBMIT AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE
SUMMARIZING SPECIEIC SAFETY-RELATED INFORMATION FOR EACH
GENERAL AVIATION AND COMMERCIAL TOUR OPERATOR IN THE STATE,
POST AN ELECTRONIC COPY OF EACH REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT'S
WEBSITE, AND ADOPT RULES REQUIRING THE PUBLIC POSTING OF THE
INFORMATION AT EVERY LOCATION OF EACH OPERATOR,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the
Department of Transportation to submit an annual report to the
Legislature summarizing specific safety-related information for
each general aviation and commercial tour operator in the State,
post an electronic copy of each report on the Department's
website, and adopt rules requiring the public posting of the
information at every location of each operator.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure
from Blue Hawaiian.
Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this
measure from the Department of Transportation and Vertical
Aviation International.
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Your Committee finds that general aviation and commercial
helicopter flights are popular activities in Hawaii but come with
potential safety hazards, particularly over residential areas.
Your Committee further finds that the National Transportation
Safety Board has made recommendations for safety enhancements in
the helicopter tour and charter industry, including the use of
crash-resistant fuel systems, flotation devices for flights over
water, and terrain awareness and warning systems to reduce the
risk of controlled flight into terrain. Therefore, your Committee
concludes that it is necessary to implement safety-related
measures to ensure increased transparency in the aviation industry
and best practices in aviation safety, thereby reducing risks to
passengers, crew, and the public at large.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Deleting language that would have requested the
Department of Transportation to submit an annual report
to the Legislature summarizing specific safety-related
information for each general aviation and commercial
tour operator in the State, post an electronic copy of
each report on the Department's website, and adopt rules
requiring the public posting of the information at every
location of each operator;
(2) Clarifying that the Department of Transportation is
requested to share information on the safety and
performance of commercial tour operators to help
residents and visitors make informed decisions;
(3) Requesting the Department of Transportation to solicit
information no less than annually from commercial air
tour operators on whether their helicopters are equipped
with, and what percentage of their helicopters are
equipped with, certain safety devices and systems;
(4) Requesting the Department of Transportation to solicit
information from commercial air tour operators on
whether their companies are operating with best
practices;
(5) Requesting language requesting the Department of
Transportation identify and share with the public the
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numbers of legitimate complaints about safety, noise, or
operations received by the Department or any other
department or agencies about each commercial air tour
operator operating in the State and any other relevant
safety or operational information;
(6) Requesting the Department of Transportation to identify
and share with the public the numbers of legitimate
safety-related incidents experienced by each commercial
air tour operator over the preceding twenty-four months;
(7) Requesting the Department of Transportation to
collaborate with the National Transportation Safety
Board to identify and develop any other safety criteria;
(8) Requesting the Department of Transportation to establish
a system of scoring and transparency for the public and
assign an overall score or letter grade for each
commercial air tour operator for the public;
(9) Requesting the Department of Transportation to identify
the very highest scoring commercial air tour operator
each year and categorize that commercial air tour
operator as the "Safest Commercial Air Tour Operator"
and categorize commercial air tour operators who did not
provide a response as "Safety Unknown" and post the
information online;
(10) Requesting the Department of Transportation to share all
safety information with the Hawaii Tourism Authority,
who is requested to also provide this information to
visitors online;
(11) Clarifying that the requested annual report to the
Legislature is requested to be posted on the Department
of Transportation's website;
(12) Updating legislative findings; and
(13) 7\mending its title accordingly.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is
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attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent
and purpose of S.R. No. 150, as amended herein, and recommends its
adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 150, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on
behalf of the members of the
Committee on Transportation and
Culture and the Arts,
CHRIS LEE, Chair
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 The Senate
Thirty-Third Legislature
State of Hawaii
Record of Votes
Committee on Transportation and Cuiture and the Arts
TCA
Bill / Resolution No.:* Committee Referral: Date:
Sk \50 TCA
__ The Committee is reconsidering its previous decision on this measure.
If so, then the previous decigion was to:________________________________________________
The Recommendation is: /
__ Pass, unamended Pass, with amendments __ Hold __ Recommit
2312 2311 2310 2313
Members A/ Aye (WR) Nay Excused
LEE, Chris (C)
INOUYE, Lorraine R. (VC)
ELEFANTE, Brandon J.C.
KANUHA, Dru Mamo
DECORTE, Samantha
TOTAL
Recommendation:
Adopted __ Not Adopted
Chair’s^Designee’s Signature:
Distribution: Original Yellow Pink Goldenrod
File with Committee Report Clerk's Office Drafting Agency Committee File Copy
*Only one measure per Record of Votes
Revised: 12/09/24