Initial High Priority Bills

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The Sierra Club of Hawai‘i will be monitoring hundreds of environmental bills in the 2020 session, but we are focusing on a few key issues relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation, replacing dirty energy with clean renewable sources, and protecting freshwater resources. We are also supporting a handful of bills at the state level that have been identified as top issues by our four county groups. Here is a list of our high priority issues and correlating bills:

Sea Level Rise: Sea levels in Hawaii could rise more than 3.2 feet throughout the century. As sea level rises, coastal buffers, habitats, and resources will be greatly impacted and infrastructure and residence may no longer exist along the coast. The state estimates this would result in $19 billion in loss of private land and structures. The state needs to start planning now for the projected impacts of sea level rise to minimize costs and impacts on coastal communities and ecosystems. For this reason, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi will be prioritizing bills that:

  1. Require mandatory seller/purchaser disclosures in real estate transactions within sea level rise exposure areas: 

  2. Amend Chapter 205A - Hawai‘i’s Coastal Zone Management Act to protect beaches and give guidance for county planning: 

Water: From our streams to aquifer systems, we must ensure the protection of our freshwater resources. Hawaiʻi’s streams, in their original state, hold enough water to support the ecosystems—mauka to makai—that rely on them, such as subsistence farmers, cultural practices, renewable energy, and large scale agriculture. Likewise, with climate change and decreased rainfall, we must ensure our precious drinking water is protected. For these reasons, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi will be prioritizing bills that:

  1. Uphold state laws, ensuring water is first used for the public good before used for private profit. Prevent efforts to allow the continued use of temporary permits for stream diversions:

  2. Protect O‘ahu’s drinking water from the Navy’s Red Hill fuel tanks: 

Clean Energy: Hawai‘i is already leading the nation with our goal of producing 100% of our electricity from clean energy by 2045, but we must do more to ensure the transition to clean energy is accelerated and equitable for all. We will be supporting initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced from the burning of fossil fuels and urging a transition from dirty to clean fuels. For these reasons, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi will be prioritizing bills that: 

  1. Ensure that Hawai‘i’s last coal-fired power plant closes in 2022: 

Group Priorities: A Honolulu-based State Capitol provides challenges to our neighbor island group members and volunteers, who need to travel to O‘ahu to directly interact with legislators and advocate on issues most critical to their island. This session we will be prioritizing issues that were identified as important to the Sierra Club’s four county groups. As a result, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi will be working on the following issues:

  1. Kaua‘i Group: Require greater setbacks for shoreline development to protect beaches and coastal resources:

    •  Potentially Chapter 205A Coastal Zone Management bills, listed above

    •  Potentially SB2381- Relating to shoreline setbacks

  2. O‘ahu Group: Create and fund programs to support farming practices that will develop healthy soils on Hawai‘i’s agricultural lands, both good for agriculture and carbon sequestration efforts: 

  3. Maui Group: No specific policies were identified, but the Chapter is already prioritizing climate change bills, which were the group’s top concern.

  4. Hawai‘i Island Group: Prohibit the harvesting of aquatic life for commercial aquarium purposes to protect reef ecosystems:

    • Commercial aquarium fish trade ban: HB2154

  5. Waste bills: Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island groups support policies to promote source reduction and zero waste principles to prevent waste rather than manage it after the fact. Since there are so many waste reduction bills - from plastics, to recycling, to food waste and composting - we will be leaning on partner organizations and lead volunteers to assist in this area.

We are a volunteer-driven organization that relies on our members and supporters to help inform our policy positions and increase our impact at the state legislature. As such, this bill list is dynamic and will be changing as bills progress throughout legislative session.

We invite you to engage with us. If you would like to have your voice heard on these and other important environmental justice issues, please sign this petition to join our new CapitolWatch email list so you will receive updates and action alerts sent directly to your inbox.

Happy session!