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10 “submerged” lands and therefore in the Conservation District. Any activity on that lot would require approval from the DLNR through the CDUA process. Because of this shift in policy from the DLNR, the Hawaii County Planning Department will no longer be involved in their past practice of making observations on surface connection. It was also indicated that the DLNR will be using surface connection as a means to help determine the position of the shoreline. In this regard, the minimum tide that they will use to determine the shoreline is 2.8 feet above MLLW. With the recent shift in DLNR policy, the emphasis of this section has changed slightly. Previously, the Hawaii County Planning Department was active in helping to determine which lots had surface connection and sought advice on how to determine this within the framework of the shoreline certification process. Now, the DLNR will take applications for shoreline certification and any advice on determining the shoreline given in this report could affect the State process more than the county. Nevertheless, this will still affect the county indirectly, especially if applications for permits are taken for future development by the DLNR. While the administrative procedural impasse dealing with the shoreline certification process appears to have been resolved at the time of this writing, there still remains the issue of where is the shoreline? Before continuing this discussion, it is necessary to go into the current definitions of the shoreline. There are three definitions that are relevant. At the State level, there is a definition in the statutes and the one in the Department of Land and Natural Resources regulations. At the county level, there is a definition in the Special Management Area regulations for Hawaii County. These definitions are provided: In the statues, the Coastal Zone Management Act has the following definition for the shoreline (Hawaii Revised Statutes § 205A-1): “Shoreline” means the upper reaches of the wash of the waves, other than storm and seismic waves, at high tide during the season of the year in which the highest wash of the waves occurs, usually evidenced by the edge of vegetative growth, or the upper limit of debris left by the wash of the waves. For the former shoreline certification rules for the Department of Land and Natural Resources § 13-222-2): “Shoreline” means the upper reach of the wash of the waves, other than storm or tidal waves, at high tide during the season of the year in which the highest wash of the waves occurs, usually evidenced by the edge of 10 Part of the reason for this is the State cannot certify a shoreline unless it is located on the applicant’s property. 28