Second Lateral Update

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March 25th marks second lateral deadline and there are only about 60 environmental bills still alive. Second lateral is the deadline that all bills with multiple committee referrals must move to their final committee in their non-originating chamber. Here’s an update on our top priorities, with the bills still “alive” and their next steps in bold text:

Top good bills we support:

HB431/HB544/HB597/SB230/SB292/SB474/SB503 - SEA LEVEL RISE DISCLOSURE (SUPPORT) - Requires that mandatory seller disclosures in real estate transactions include identification of residential real properties lying within the sea level rise exposure area. While there were 7 similar bills introduced, only two are still alive.

  • ALIVE - SB474 - Sponsored by Sen. Keith-Agaran + 5 other Senators. Supported unanimously in Senate. Heard and passed in committee by Sen. Inouye, Sen. Baker, Sen. Rhoads, and Rep. Tarnas. SB474 has its final committee hearing on April 1st and then will hopefully advance through conference committee and become law.

  • DEAD - HB554 - Sponsored by Rep. Tarnas + 34 other House members. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Tarnas and Rep. Johanson. Supported unanimously in House and crossed over to the Senate. Not heard in committee by Sen. Inouye and died.

HB243 - SEA LEVEL RISE PLANNING (SUPPORT) - Requires all state agencies to identify infrastructure susceptible to sea level rise hazards, assess mitigation options, identify department point of contacts for statewide sea level rise coordination, and submit reports.

  • ALIVE - HB243 - Sponsored by Rep. Tarnas + 28 other House members. Supported unanimously in House. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Tarnas, Rep. Lowen, Rep. Luke, Sen. Inouye, and Sen. Gabbard. HB243 has its final committee hearing on April 1st and then will hopefully advance through conference committee and become law.

HB463/HB552/SB500/SB920 - ESTABLISHES 100% CLEAN GROUND TRANSPORTATION GOALS (SUPPORT) - Sets statewide goals for state and county public vehicle fleets to transition to clean transportation vehicles. Of the four bills introduced, two were heard.

  • ALIVE - HB552 - Sponsored by Rep. Lowen + 19 other House members. Supported unanimously in House, except for Rep. Okimoto voting aye with reservations and Rep. McDermott voting no. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Lowen, Rep. Aquino, Rep. Johanson, Rep. Luke, Sen. Wakai, and Sen. Lee. Needs to be passed out of WAM Committee by Sen. Dela Cruz by April 9th. Call his office at 808-586-6090 and urge him to hear and pass HB552.

  • ALIVE - SB920 - Sponsored by Sen. Wakai. Supported unanimously in Senate. Heard and passed in committee by Sen. Lee, Sen. Wakai, Sen. Dela Cruz, Rep. Lowen, and Rep. Johanson. Needs to be passed out of FIN Committee by Rep. Luke by April 9th. Call her office at 808-586-6200 and urge her to hear and pass SB920.

SB512 - EXPANDS SNAP DOUBLE BUCKS FOR LOCAL FOOD PURCHASES (SUPPORT) - Expands the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s “Double Up Food Bucks” initiative to incentivize the purchase of local produce and proteins for low-income beneficiaries.

  • ALIVE - SB512 - Sponsored by Sen. Dela Cruz + 8 other Senators. Supported unanimously in Senate. Heard and passed in committee by Sen. Gabbard, Sen. Dela Cruz, Rep. Hashem, Rep. Yamane. Needs to be passed out of FIN Committee by Rep. Luke by April 9th. Call her office at 808-586-6200 and urge her to hear and pass SB512.

HB1350 - ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MAPPING (SUPPORT) - Requires the environmental council to develop a tool to identify economic justice communities. Defines "economic justice community".

  • DEAD - HB1350 - Sponsored by Rep. Marten. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Lowen. Not heard in committee by Rep. Nakashima and died.

SB1277 - ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MAPPING AND TASK FORCE (SUPPORT) - Establishes the environmental justice mapping task force and an advisory council to develop high-quality data relating to environmental justice concerns, identify environmental justice communities, and devise a method to correct for racist and unjust practices leading to historical and current environmental injustices.

  • DEAD - SB1277 - Sponsored by Sen. Chang. Not heard in committee by Sen. Gabbard and died.

HB696/SB889 - EIS REQUIREMENT FOR BIOMASS PROJECTS (SUPPORT) - Adds definitions of "biomass" and "fossil fuels", and amends the definition of "power generating facility" for purposes of environmental impact statements.

  • DEAD - HB696 - Sponsored by Rep. Eli. Not heard in committee by Rep. Lowen and died.

  • DEAD - SB889 - Sponsored by Sen. Shimabukuro + 3 other Senators. Not heard in committee by Sen. Gabbard and Sen. Wakai and died.

HB860 - SOLAR ON NEW HOMES (SUPPORT) - This bill would require new housing development projects to be constructed with rooftop solar panels.

  • DEAD - HB860 - Sponsored by Rep. Marten + 9 other House members. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Lowen. Heard and deferred in committee by Rep. Johanson.

HB464 - STREAMS PROTECTION (SUPPORT) - Prohibits BLNR from authorizing the diversion of water from streams except under specified criteria. Deposits moneys collected via land dispositions that authorize or have the effect of authorizing the diversion of water from streams into the forest stewardship fund.

  • DEAD - HB464 - Sponsored by Rep. Kapela + 5 other House members. Not heard in committee by Rep. Tarnas and died.

Top bad bills we oppose:

HB686/SB612- ANTI-PROTESTER BILL (OPPOSE) - This bill would make it a Class C Felony to protest at energy infrastructure sites.

  • ALIVE - HB686 - Sponsored by Rep. Nakashima + 11 other House members. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Takayama and Rep. Nakashima. Supported unanimously in House except for no votes from Rep. Eli, Rep. Ganaden, Rep. Kapela, Rep. Dale Kobayashi, and Rep Perruso. Bill needs to be passed out of JDC Committee by Sen. Rhoads by April 9th. Please call Sen. Rhoads office at 808-586-6130 to tell him you oppose HB686 and urge him to NOT schedule the bill for a hearing.

  • DEAD - SB612 - Sponsored by Sen. Baker + 4 other Senators. Heard and deferred in committee by Sen. Rhoads.

 HB497 - “STREAMLINING” COUNTY DEVELOPMENTS - Prohibits the counties from requiring, as part of a county zoning ordinance or county rule, a developer with more than one residential unit to obtain the approval of any state agency unless that approval is expressly required by law.

  • ALIVE - HB497 - Sponsored by Rep. Tarnas + 16 other House members. Supported unanimously in House except for no votes from Rep. Eli, Rep. Kapela, Rep. Marten, Rep. McKelvey, Rep. Perruso, and Rep. Tam. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Lowen, Rep. Luke, Sen. Inouye. Bill needs to be heard and passed in JDC/WAM Committees by April 9th. Please call Sen. Rhoads at 808-586-6130 and Sen. Dela Cruz at 808-586-6090 to tell them you oppose HB497 and urge them to NOT schedule the bill for a joint hearing.

HB469/SB693 - TRANSFERS 93,000 ACRES OF WATERSHED “PASTURELANDS” FROM DLNR TO DOA (OPPOSE) - Requires that agricultural lands under the jurisdiction of the department of land and natural resources be transferred to the department of agriculture not later than 12/31/2023.

  • ALIVE - HB469 - Sponsored by Rep. Onishi + 5 other House members. Supported unanimously in House except for no votes from Rep. Eli, Rep. Kapela, Rep. Dale Kobayashi, Rep. LoPresti, Rep. Lowen, Rep. McKelvey, Rep. Perruso, Rep. Tam, and Rep. Wildberger. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Tarnas, Rep. Luke, Sen. Inouye, Sen. Gabbard. Bill needs to be heard and passed in JDC/WAM Committees by April 9th. Please call Sen. Rhoads at 808-586-6130 and Sen. Dela Cruz at 808-586-6090 to tell them you oppose HB469 and urge them to NOT schedule the bill for a joint hearing.

  • DEAD - SB693 - Sponsored by Sen. Inouye and Sen. Dela Cruz. Heard and passed in committee by Sen. Inouye and Sen. Gabbard. Not heard in committee by Sen. Rhoads and died.

HB499/SB257 - 99 YEAR LEASES ON PUBLIC LANDS (OPPOSE) - Authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to extend certain leases of public lands for commercial, industrial, resort, mixed-use, or government use upon approval of a proposed development agreement to make substantial improvements to the land.

  • ALIVE - HB499 - Sponsored by Rep. Tarnas + 14 other House members. Supported unanimously in House except for votes with reservations from Rep. LoPresti, Rep. Marten, and Rep. Wildberger and no votes from Rep. Eli, Rep. Ganaden, Rep. Gates, Rep. Kapela, Rep. Dale Kobayashi, Rep. McKelvey, Rep. Perruso, and Rep. Tam. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Tarnas, Rep. Johanson, Rep. Luke, and Sen. Inouye. Bill needs to be heard and passed in WAM Committee by Sen. Dela Cruz by April 9th. Please call Sen. Dela Cruz at 808-586-6090 to tell him you oppose HB499 and urge him to NOT schedule the bill for a hearing.

  • DEAD - SB257 - Sponsored by Sen. Inouye + 3 other Senate members. Heard and passed in committee by Sen. Inouye. Not heard in committee by Sen. Rhoads, so re-referred by Sen. Kouchi to WAM Committee to stay alive. Heard and passed in committee by Sen. Dela Cruz. Supported unanimously in Senate except for votes with reservations from Sen. Keohokalole, Sen. Moriwaki, Sen. Nishihara, Sen. Rhoads, Sen. Riviere and no votes from Sen. Acasio and Sen. Fevella. Bill crossed over to House and given quadruple referral. Bill not heard by Rep. Tarnas and died.

SB1237/HB1173 - CUTS THE SOLAR TAX CREDIT (OPPOSE) - Reduces the renewable energy technologies income tax credit by 50%.

  • DEAD - SB1237 - Sponsored by Sen. Wakai. Heard and passed in committee by Sen. Wakai and Sen. Dela Cruz. Supported unanimously in Senate except for votes with reservations from Sen. Acasio, Sen. Ihara, and Sen. Taniguchi and no votes from Sen. Gabbard and Sen. Lee. Bill not heard by Rep. Lowen and died.

  • DEAD - HB1173 - Sponsored by Rep. Quinlan and Rep. Luke. Not heard in committee by Rep. Lowen and died.

SB137/HB260 - WEAKENS THE STATE LAND USE COMMISSION’S AUTHORITY (OPPOSE) - Authorizes county land use decision-making authorities to amend district boundaries and reclassify agricultural lands to the urban district for the development of “affordable” housing.

  • DEAD - SB137 - Sponsored by Sen. Kanuha and Sen. Keith-Agaran. Heard and passed in committee by Sen. Inouye and Sen. Dela Cruz. Supported unanimously in Senate except for votes with reservations from Sen. Ihara and Sen. Moriwaki and no votes from Sen. Acasio, Sen. Fevella, Sen. Gabbard, and Sen. Riviere. Bill heard and deferred by Rep. Tarnas and Rep. Nakamura.

  • DEAD - HB260 - Sponsored by Rep. Hashimoto + 10 other House members. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Nakamura and Rep. Tarnas. Not heard in committee by Rep. Nakashima and died.

HB901/SB1055 - WEAKENS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS LAW (OPPOSE) - Allows “secondary” infrastructure improvements within a highway or public right-of-way to be exempt from environmental assessment requirements.

  • DEAD - HB901 - Sponsored by Rep. Saiki. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Lowen. Heard and deferred by Rep. Nakashima.

    DEAD - SB1055 - Sponsored by Sen. Kouchi. Heard and passed in committee by Sen. Gabbard and Sen. Lee. Not heard in committee by Sen. Rhoads and died.

HB1015/SB1169 - ALLOWS DIRECT NEGOTIATION OF WATER LICENSES (COMMENTS) - Allows the Board of Land and Natural Resources to issue long-term water licenses for the diversions of public streams via direct negotiations as an alternative to a public auction process. Learn more here.

  • DEAD - HB1015 - Sponsored by Rep. Saiki. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Tarnas and Rep. Johanson. No votes during second reading by Rep. Eli, Rep. Kapela, Rep. Perruso, and Rep. Wildberger. Heard and deferred in committee by Rep. Luke.

  • DEAD - SB1169 - Sponsored by Sen. Kouchi. Heard and passed in committee by Sen. Inouye. Not heard in committee by Sen. Rhoads and died.

HB341 - DECLARATORY RULINGS CANNOT BE APPEALED (OPPOSE) - This bill would limit people’s power to hold agencies accountable after they make decisions known as “declaratory rulings”.

  • DEAD - HB341 - Sponsored by Rep, Saiki. Heard and deferred in committee by Rep. Nakashima.

HB344 - ELIMINATES CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS (OPPOSE) - This bill would limit public participation in agency decisions on land and water use and instead force citizens to go to court. This bad bill passed the House Water and Land Committee, but is now dead after being deferred in the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee.

  • DEAD - HB344 - Sponsored by Rep. Saiki. Heard and passed in committee by Rep. Tarnas. No votes during second reading by Rep. Kapela, Rep. Perruso, and Rep. Wildberger. Heard and deferred in committee by Rep. Nakashima.

HB1258 - AMENDS THE STATE WATER CODE (OPPOSE) - This bill would have opened up the State Water Code, in particular water use permits, to amendments.

  • DEAD HB1258 - Sponsored by Rep. Nakashima. Heard and deferred in committee by Rep. Tarnas.