THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2483
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to the environment.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the climate crisis is the overriding challenge of the twenty-first century, presenting significant threats to the environment, public health, and economic stability of the State.

In 2024, the department of transportation reached an unprecedented settlement in the Navahine v. Hawaii Department of Transportation constitutional climate lawsuit, underscoring the State's commitment to addressing climate change through responsible governance and innovative solutions. The settlement further emphasized the importance of ensuring that future generations and youth will inherit a life-sustaining climate with access to the same diversity and cultural resources enjoyed by previous generations.

The legislature recognized in Act 32, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017 (Act 32), that on December 12, 2015, one hundred ninety-five countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted an agreement addressing greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance starting in the year 2020, known as the Paris Agreement. Act 32 further documented the State's commitment to implement the goals of the Paris Agreement, demonstrating the State's proactive stance in contributing to global climate mitigation efforts by systematically reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Furthermore, the United States has set ambitious, nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement, aiming to significantly reduce national greenhouse gas emissions. In December 2023, the Hawaii state energy office completed the first Hawaiʻi Pathways to Decarbonization report to estimate sector and category-level projections of greenhouse gas emissions necessary to reach the overarching emissions target established in section 225P-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by Act 238, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022. Through this work, sector-specific targets can be derived, providing a clearer roadmap for achieving comprehensive emissions reductions across all sectors of the State's economy.

The legislature further finds that the current overarching targets established within section 225P-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are consistent with the nationally determined contributions but can be strengthened by providing more specificity and clarity. Similarly, the responsibilities and powers of the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission could be updated to better address the environmental threats facing the State.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Establish an executive committee and amend the membership and duties of the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission;

(2) Require each member agency of the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission to implement its own actions to address certain strategies and goals established by the commission;

(3) Establish reporting and review requirements for member agencies relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts and clean economy targets;

(4) Update reporting requirements for the sea level rise vulnerability and adaptation reports;

(5) Allow the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission to enter into certain procurement contracts; and

(6) Update the zero emissions clean economy target.

SECTION 2. Section 225P-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding twelve new definitions to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

""Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions" means the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as a direct result of human activities generated through sources including but not limited to fuel combustion, industrial operations, deforestation, agricultural practices, and waste management.

"Carbon sink" means any process, activity, or mechanism that removes greenhouse gases, an aerosol, or a precursor of a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.

"Emission leakage" means the net increase of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions occurring outside an established inventory system boundary in one location or sector that results from efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in another location or sector.

"Greenhouse gas" means any gas in the atmosphere that traps or emits heat and results in increasing the Earth's surface temperatures. "Greenhouse gas" includes carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases.

"Greenhouse gas emission" means the production or release of greenhouse gases from human activities including but not limited to the burning of carbon-based fuels, the release of gases from certain chemical reactions, the release and leakage of refrigerants, the application of fertilizer, or deforestation.

"Greenhouse gas emitting category" means the various economic sub-classifications within each sector as defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations.

"Greenhouse gas emitting sector" means the various economic classifications that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, including the energy, transport, buildings, industry, agriculture, forestry, and waste management sectors, as determined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations.

"Greenhouse gas emissions inventory" means the statewide greenhouse gas emissions inventory report published by the department of health pursuant to section 342B-71.

"Greenhouse gas reservoir" means a physical unit or component of the biosphere, geosphere, or hydrosphere with the capability to store, accumulate, or release a greenhouse gas removed from the atmosphere by a greenhouse gas sink or a greenhouse gas captured from a greenhouse gas emission source.

"Member state agency" mean any state agency represented by a member of the commission pursuant to section 225P-3(c).

"Member agency" mean any state or county agency represented by a member of the commission pursuant to section 225P-3(c).

"Net greenhouse gas emission" means the estimated balance between the emissions produced or released into the atmosphere, subtracted from the emissions sequestered through natural and technological processes, or the sum of emissions sources and sinks."

SECTION 3. Section 225P-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§225P-3 Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission; general functions, duties, and powers. (a) There is established the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission that shall be placed within the department of land and natural resources for administrative purposes only.

(b) [Coordination of the] The commission shall be [headed jointly by the chairperson of the board of land and natural resources, or the chairperson's designee, and the director of the office of planning and sustainable development, or the director's designee.] headed by a five-member executive committee, to be elected annually from among the members of the commission at its first meeting of the calendar year. The executive committee shall consist of:

(1) One of the commission members described in subsection (c)(1);

(2) Two of the commission members described in subsection (c)(2) to (14);

(3) One of the commission members described in subsection (c)(15); and

(4) One of the commission members described in subsection (c)(2), (4), (6), (8), (9), (10), (12), or (13) that is not elected under paragraph (3).

(c) The commission shall include the following members:

(1) The chairs of the standing committees of the legislature with subject matter jurisdiction encompassing environmental protection, climate mitigation, transportation, and land use;

(2) The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources or the chairperson's designee[, who shall be the co-chair of the commission];

(3) The director of the office of planning and sustainable development or the director's designee[, who shall be the co-chair of the commission];

(4) The director of business, economic development, and tourism or the director's designee;

(5) The chairperson of the board of directors of the Hawaii tourism authority or the chairperson's designee;

(6) The chairperson of the board of agriculture and biosecurity or the chairperson's designee;

(7) The chief executive officer of the office of Hawaiian affairs or the officer's designee;

(8) The chairperson of the Hawaiian homes commission or the chairperson's designee;

(9) The director of transportation or the director's designee;

(10) The director of health or the director's designee;

(11) The [adjutant general] administrator of the Hawaii emergency management agency or the [adjutant general's] administrator's designee;

(12) The [chairperson] superintendent of [the board of] education or the [chairperson's] superintendent's designee;

[(13) The directors of each of the county planning departments, or the directors' designees; and

(14)] (13) The [manager of the coastal zone management program.] comptroller or the comptroller's designee;

(14) The chief energy officer or the officer's designee; and

(15) The directors of each of the county planning departments, or the directors' designees.

(d) In addition to the members listed in subsection (c), the [chairs of the commission] executive committee may request [the participation or input of] members of the public; experts in the field; [and] county, state, or federal officials [or]; and others as necessary[.] to participate in or provide input to the commission.

(e) The members of the commission shall serve without pay but shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses, including travel expenses, incurred in carrying out their duties.

(f) The commission shall provide policy direction, facilitation, coordination, and planning among state and county agencies, federal agencies, and other partners as appropriate.

(g) The commission shall establish climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and goals to help guide planning and implementation statewide using the latest scientific analysis and risk assessment to monitor and forecast climate change related impacts at the regional, state, and local level, including any additional information deemed necessary. Each member agency shall implement actions within its own agency to address the strategies and goals established by the commission.

(h) The commission shall identify vulnerable people, communities, industries, ecosystems, and the potential economic and public health ramifications for climate change related impacts.

(i) The commission shall identify existing climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts at the federal, state, and local levels and make recommendations [for how], set standards, and determine direct actions needed to meet or exceed Hawaii's state mitigation goals and shall adopt a liberal approach in preparation, so as to minimize future risk to the people and environment of Hawaii.

(j) The commission shall assess the capacity and availability of existing resources and identify new sources of revenue necessary to address climate change mitigation and adaptation and shall advise the governor, legislature, and counties on the economic and budgetary ramifications of climate change impacts, mitigation, and adaptation.

(k) The commission and each member agency shall identify the information necessary to track progress in implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts and shall each submit an annual report to the governor and legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session of the legislature.

(l) The commission shall maintain a website that includes a mission statement as well as access to climate change related actions, plans, policies, and results.

(m) The commission shall conduct a comprehensive review of the implementation as required by this section and submit a report to the governor, legislature, and the counties no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2023 and every five years thereafter. Each member agency shall select implementation actions relating to climate mitigation and adaptation that align with the agency's primary purpose and submit to the commission a comprehensive review of its implementation actions no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2028 and every five years thereafter. The commission shall assist member agencies with the documentation requirements specific to each agency and make the reports publicly available.

(n) The commission shall[, as a first step, focus on and develop] maintain and publish sea level rise vulnerability and adaptation reports that shall include:

(1) Identification of the major areas of sea level rise impacts affecting the State and counties through 2050[;] and shall publish updated reports as these impacts over a fifty-year planning horizon are identified;

(2) Identification of expected impacts of sea level rise based on the latest scientific research for each area through 2050[;] and shall publish updated reports as these expected impacts over a fifty-year planning horizon are identified;

(3) Identification of the economic ramifications of sea level rise;

(4) Identification of applicable federal laws, policies, or programs that impact affected areas; and

(5) Recommendations for planning, management, and adaptation for hazards associated with increasing sea level rise.

The [reports shall be made publicly available no later than December 31, 2017, and the] commission shall reevaluate and update the 2017 sea level rise vulnerability and adaptation report every five years.

(o) In developing the report, pursuant to subsection (n), the commission shall:

(1) Solicit public views and concerns; and

(2) Coordinate with the various county, state, and federal agencies involved in ongoing climate change adaptation planning initiatives.

(p) The commission may enter into contracts for the procurement of goods and services to advance climate change mitigation and adaptation."

SECTION 4. Section 225P-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§225P-5 Zero emissions clean economy target. (a) Considering [both atmospheric carbon and] all in-state anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions as well as [offsets] carbon sink capacity from the local in-state sequestration of atmospheric carbon [and greenhouse gases] through long-term carbon sinks and greenhouse gas reservoirs, a statewide net greenhouse gas emission target is hereby established to sequester more atmospheric carbon and greenhouse gases than are anthropogenically emitted within the State as quickly as practicable[, but no later than 2045; provided that the statewide target includes a greenhouse gas emissions limit, to be achieved no later than].

The net greenhouse gas emissions target shall be as follows:

(1) By December 31, 2030, [of] statewide net greenhouse gas emissions shall be at least fifty per cent below the level of the statewide net greenhouse gas emissions in 2005[.], as determined by the greenhouse gas emissions inventory; and

(2) By December 31, 2045, statewide net greenhouse gas emissions shall be no greater than zero.

(b) The commission shall work:

(1) With stakeholders in all greenhouse gas emitting sectors and categories to develop and inform science-based targets in those sectors and categories; and

(2) To ensure that all member agencies avoid emission leakage resulting from policies, projects, and programs implemented to achieve the targets established pursuant to this section.

[(b)] (c) The [Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation] commission shall [endeavor to] provide policy and program guidance to member agencies and non-governmental agencies on the actions needed to achieve the goals of this section.

(d) After January 1, [2020,] 2027, member state agency plans, decisions, including procurement decisions, and strategies shall [give consideration to] consider the impact of those plans, decisions, and strategies on the State's ability to achieve the [goals] targets outlined in this section, weighed appropriately against their primary purpose.

(e) Each member agency shall submit to the commission and include in its annual report to the legislature and governor pursuant to section 225P-3(k) a summary of actions taken, or not taken, to help the State meet the established clean economy targets. The commission shall develop a standardized reporting template to facilitate reporting for member agencies."

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission; Duties; Executive Committee; Member Agencies; Reports; Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Reports; Zero Emissions Clean Economy Target

Description:

Establishes an executive committee and amends the membership and duties of the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission (Commission). Requires each member agency of the Commission to implement its own actions to address certain strategies and goals established by the Commission. Establishes reporting and review requirements for member agencies relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts and clean economy targets. Updates reporting requirements for the Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation reports. Allows the Commission to enter into certain procurement contracts. Updates the zero emissions clean economy target.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.