STAND. COM. REP. NO. 905

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 781

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 781, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require government entities in the State that issue building permits to implement SolarAPP+ or a functionally equivalent online automated permitting platform that verifies code compliance and issues permits to licensed contractors for solar distributed energy resource systems in real time by January 1, 2024;

(2) Require government entities in the State that issue building permits to adopt self-certification for solar distributed energy resource systems that are not SolarAPP+ compatible;

(3) Exempt work with respect to residential distributed energy resource systems from the professional engineers, architects, surveyors, and landscape architects licensure law; and

(4) Increase the estimated cost of work threshold for certain structures below which the professional engineers, architects, surveyors, and landscape architects licensure law is inapplicable.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority; Alternate Energy, Inc.; Blue Planet Foundation; Climate Protectors Hawai‘i; Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Fortress Power; Grand Solar, Inc.; Hawaii Food Industry Association; Hawaii Solar Energy Association; Kaua‘i Climate Action Coalition; Malama Kaua‘i; Our Revolution Hawaii; Photonworks Engineering LLP; Sierra Club of Hawai‘i; Sunnova; Sungage Financial, LLC; Sunrun; Sunspear Energy, LLC; Ulupono Initiative; 350Hawaii.org; Tesla; Hawai‘i Unified Industries, LLC; and fifty-one individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the American Institute of Architects Hawaii State Council and one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors, and Landscape Architects and Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative.

Your Committees find that permitting bottlenecks and backlogs impede progress and add unnecessary cost, time, and risk to the State's transition to renewable energy. This impacts all residents and businesses in Hawaii, particularly those that have not yet been able to install or participate in a solar and energy storage project. As the cost to install renewable energy decreases and systems become more available and accessible to underserved members of the community, this measure removes the burdensome and time-consuming review process and replaces it with a standardized, peer-reviewed national product safety certification and product documentation requirement, thus facilitating the continued transition to renewable energy.

Your Committees acknowledge the concerns raised in testimony that the exemptions to the professional engineers, architects, surveyors, and landscape architects licensure law for certain projects made by this measure could jeopardize the safety of those projects. Your Committees also recognize that the self-certification process requirements established by this measure should apply only in territories served by an investor-owned electric utility, rather than an electric cooperative.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language to clarify that the self-certification process requirements established by this measure shall apply only to a government entity in the State that issues building permits in territories served by an investor-owned electric utility;

(2) Deleting language that would have created an exemption from the professional engineers, architects, surveyors, and landscape architects licensure law for work with respect to residential distributed energy resource systems and for certain structures under a certain dollar amount; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 781, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 781, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair