Legislature at Halftime: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
By Wayne Tanaka, Chapter Director | Reading time: 9 minutes
With the February 28 “Decking” deadline now passed, many of the 3,000-plus bills we have seen introduced this year are officially dead, for this year at least. Read on for a recap of the victories we have seen and ongoing challenges we have encountered so far - ranging from landfills to biosecurity to building codes - as well as an early look at the issues likely to arise in the remainder of the 2025 legislative session.
Bad Building Code Bills Defeated
Bills that would have delayed or effectively eliminated updates to the state building code were thankfully stopped early on in this session, as legislators - with the urging of numerous testifiers - realized that health, safety, and resilience should not be compromised for developer profit margins.
HB1 and SB120 would have replaced the state building code council’s authority to update building codes with the task of assessing the costs of any new proposed codes or standards, and eliminated statutory provisions that automatically update our building codes to minimum international standards. These measures would have lock in outdated codes that do not incorporate the heavily researched “lessons learned” from climate disasters and technological developments, to better protect human health and safety and enhance water and energy efficiencies, among other things.
SB48 would have asked the building industry to assess the costs of building code updates - something which would focus policymakers’ attention on the short-term costs of code updates to developers, rather than the long-term cost savings, health and safety protections, and environmental benefits provided by up-to-date codes.
Read more about these bills, which are likely to be reintroduced in future years, here.
Mahalo nui to everyone who answered our calls to take action against these bad bills - your voluminous testimonies were critical to stopping them in their tracks!
Bad Environmental Review Bills Also Defeated - Mostly
HB123, HB658, and SB22 all sought to end-run recent court decisions confirming the long-neglected need for the Department of Land and Natural Resources to ensure that its aquarium collection and Kaʻanapali commercial boating permit programs complied with our environmental review law. In doing so, they would have exempted all fisheries management and ocean use decisions from environmental review. Thankfully, all were deferred.
However, still alive is SB1074, which would have originally allowed a wide range of previously and unlawfully authorized activities to continue while environmental review compliance issues were resolved - something that could take years or decades, as demonstrated in East Maui. This would undermine the very purpose of environmental review, to aid in planning and prudent decisionmaking before proposed actions take place. In its amended form, this bill more narrowly applies only to currently authorized activities and would allow these activities to continue without environmental review for only one year, with extensions subject to a courtʻs discretion. While partially addressing the public’s concerns, this could still result in unnecessary and potentially significant impacts from actions that are commenced without the benefit of environmental review.
HB661, a similar bill to SB1074, also continues to progress. The bill was also amended to limit what types of actions could be continued while environmental review is pending.
Read more about these bills here, and stay tuned for additional opportunities for action on SB1074 and HB661!
Landfill and Aquifer Protection Bills March On
Three measures to protect our drinking water aquifers from highly toxic landfill leachate have survived the halfway mark. SB446, SB438, and HB969 would all prevent the siting of landfills above drinking water aquifers - using similar but slightly differing definitions to describe where landfills would be prohibited. SB446 and SB438 would also prohibit the use of incinerator fly ash for road construction.
SB446 also reduces the buffer zone around neighborhoods, hospitals, etc. where landfills are prohibited from ½ mile to ¼ mile - something which may open up more areas away from our drinking water aquifers for consideration as landfill sites, but which will require continued vigilance and engagement to ensure West Oʻahu is not forced to continue bearing the burden of receiving the island’s municipal waste stream.
Having made last Friday’s decking deadline, these bills will now most likely “cross over” after their third and final reading this week.
Your steadfast support helped get these bills this far - and will be needed to get at least one of them past the finish line, and uphold our collective kuleana to safeguard the water security of our future generations.
Oʻahu residents must also continue to urge the Navy to do the right thing, and reconsider its decision to deny the City the use of its lands for a new landfill, particularly in light of the ongoing contamination of our sole source aquifer from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
Read more about these bills here, and the landfill situation on Oʻahu here and here.
Also still alive is SB639, a measure that seeks to set a common-sense standard of full remediation for any jet fuel released from an underground storage tank facility. This measure would give teeth to the call of the Red Hill WAI (“Water Alliance Initiative”), to seek the complete clean-up of the ‘āina and wai contaminated by the Red Hill Facility. Your continued support will be critical to getting this bill passed and adopted into law! Read more on SB639 here.
Boost in Funding - and Potential Dismantling - Still on Table for the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council
HB299, which would boost funds for the highly effective Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC) and its island invasive species committee partners, cleared its last hearing in the House Finance Committee, and will need your continued support in the weeks ahead. Read more about this measure here.
Meanwhile, also still alive is SB1100, which commendably recognizes the need for the Department of Agriculture to take its biosecurity role seriously - but which also would place the HISC under the direction of the Department (to be renamed the “Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity”) chair. Given the long history of current Department of Agriculture leadership’s inability or unwillingness to do their part in the fight against invasive species, this measure could result in the effective dismantling of HISC and its existing strategic framework - making our islands even more vulnerable to the impacts of invasive species. Read more about this measure here, and get ready to stand up for the HISC if and when this measure crosses over to the House!
Looking Ahead to the Rest of Session
In addition to tracking the remaining measures described above, the post-crossover session will see additional issues that the community may need to engage in.
Fast-Tracking the Development of Rural and Agricultural Lands
Of note is HB826, a bill that would allow county planning commissions to effectively bypass the Land Use Commission in authorizing, by special permit, residential development on up to 100 acres of agricultural and rural lands at a time. There are significant concerns regarding the counties’ relative lack of institutional knowledge and experience in balancing housing development with other critical public rights and interests, including food and water security, climate resilience, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, and even job creation and housing opportunities for all income levels. These concerns would be exacerbated if the counties continue avoiding the use of a contested case hearing process for their land use decisions, a process which is essential to ensuring objective and transparent decisionmaking that is explicitly based on the evidence on record. Accordingly, this bill could lead to significant and avoidable impacts from large-scale land use changes, substantial community conflict, and even an exacerbation of our housing challenges. Stay tuned for calls to action to put the brakes on this misguided measure!
Enlisting Insurers in the Climate Fight
SB1166 would allow insurers to go after Big Oil companies for insurance payouts resulting from climate-related disasters. This bill would help enlist insurance companies - who have the resources and incentives to seek financial compensation from those most responsible for our climate crisis - in our effort to hold Big Oil accountable. It would also encourage insurers to continue serving the Hawaiʻi market, by providing them with another legal mechanism to seek relief if and when the next climate disaster hits. Read more on this bill in this special spotlight column here, and stay tuned for more opportunities to support this bill!
Board and Commission Nominations
This year we may see up to two Water Commission seats, three Board of Land and Natural Resources seats, three Land Use Commission seats, a supreme court justice, and the chief judge of the intermediate court of appeals, among others, all be nominated and considered for confirmation by the Senate. We must be vigilant and ensure that the right individuals with appropriate expertise are selected for these critical positions.
Of particular note is GM583’s proposal to confirm Water Commission nominee Vincent Hinano Rodrigues to the Commission’s Native Hawaiian loea, or water expert, seat. The highly irregular and extra-legal process used by Governor Green to select this controversial nominee has already sparked a legal challenge by Earthjustice and the Hui Kānāwai ʻOiaʻiʻo. A Senate confirmation may set a dangerous precedent that would allow future governors to bend or ignore the law, and thereby politicize the commissioner selection process. It would also leave the Water Commission with a potentially deeply conflicted Native Hawaiian water management “expert” as it contemplates major water management decisions in West Maui and Nā Wai ʻEhā.
Stand by for action alerts to reach out to your Senator regarding this problematic nomination! In the meantime, be sure to read the community’s concerns (and the Governor’s non-“responses”) regarding the selection process here, and check out (and share) Amanda Leipuanani Robson’s short films covering this matter here.
The successes we’ve seen this year demonstrates the power of your voice, and the importance of community engagement with our legislative processes. Mahalo nunui to everyone who took the time to testify and reach out to their elected officials thus far, and helped protect the future of our islands and the wellbeing of our communities and future generations.
If you are not already, be sure to subscribe to our CapitolWatch action alerts here, and sign up for the Environmental Legislative Network by emailing us at hawaii.chapter@sierraclub.org (and ask your friends to do the same).
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