Requesting That The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Establish A Two-year Task Force To Address Key Findings Validated By The 2022 Resiliency Assessment Report Of The Hawaii Maritime Transportation Regional Resiliency Assessment Program Project And Plan Resiliency Enhancements.
The resolution highlights the importance of the port of Honolulu, through which around 80% of all inbound products transit. Any operational disruption could lead to severe shortages affecting the entire state, along with American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Micronesia. By creating this task force, the resolution seeks to improve preparedness and recovery strategies related to maritime incidents, thereby enhancing the infrastructure's overall resilience.
House Resolution 44 (HR44) aims to address the critical issues identified in the July 2022 Resiliency Assessment Report regarding Hawaii's maritime transportation systems. This resolution requests the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) to establish a two-year task force to plan resiliency enhancements based on the key findings of the assessment report. The focus is on ensuring that Hawaii's maritime transportation remains robust and reliable, with particular attention to the potential impacts of disruptions to the port of Honolulu, which is vital for the state's supply chain and essential goods.
A significant point of contention arises from the need to formalize, document, and test concepts such as the alternate port and Reverse Hub and Spoke arrangements, which were identified as currently inadequate. The task force will not only assess these findings but also explore other potential alternate ports aside from Pearl Harbor, which historically has been viewed as the main backup. Discussions around these enhancements could lead to debates regarding resource allocation, investment priorities, and the balance between infrastructure resilience and operational security.