HONOLULU — The Board of Land and Natural Resources voted recently to submit the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Kaanapali Beach Restoration and Berm Enhancement project to Gov. David Ige.

The EIS is available for review at https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/ occl/kaanapali.

This is the next step for the project proposed for a one-mile stretch of beach in West Maui.

According to the state, it is considered a short- to mid-term effort to mitigate the impacts of rising water levels and coastal erosion, which are increasing with global sea level rise.

Staff from the state Department of Land & Natural Resources’ Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL) noted in the submittal to the board that this is not an evaluation of the project but a review of the content of the EIS.

OCCL and its consultant, Sea Engineering Inc., evaluated 12 factors to decide on the acceptability and completeness of the EIS.

They hosted a half-dozen virtual outreach meetings with various stakeholders and interested people prior to the board meeting.

More than a dozen people provided testimony to the board during the Oct. 22 meeting.

The proposed project, if it clears all regulatory approvals, calls for moving sand from an 8.5-acre sand field located approximately 150-800 feet seaward of Kaanapali Beach to widen the beach from 41 to 78 feet.

OCCL noted in its submittal to the land board: “Beach restoration is a specific type of environmental restoration focused on restoring coastal sandy habitat that extends across the terrestrial/marine boundary. In broad terms, environmental restoration is focused on the rejuvenation of a damaged resource, typically after the resource has been damaged due to human interactions. Modern sea level rise is a result of human induced global atmospheric and ocean warming. Changes in storm severity have also been attributed to climate change. These phenomena have been identified as accelerating coastal erosion rates in Hawai’i and globally.”

Four members of the board voted to accept the EIS, with one no vote and one abstaining.

The EIS will now be submitted to the State Office of Environmental Quality Control for publication and transmitted to the governor with the recommendation for acceptance.

The Oct. 22 BLNR discussion may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mV0LurU2VE (7:50:21 – 9:24:20).

The project would require a Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP), which would need further board approval and be preceded by more community outreach and another public comment period.