STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1308-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2398

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2398, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RESIDENTIAL HOUSING UTILITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require county boards of water supply to publicly disclose on their respective website service connection availability for residential permitting and construction.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Avalon Development Company LLC; Hawaiʻi YIMBY; and Housing Hawaiʻi's Future. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and one individual.

Your Committee finds that uncertainty around water service availability has increasingly delayed residential permitting and created confusion for property owners, builders, and permitting agencies. Your Committee further finds that applicants frequently receive inconsistent or outdated information regarding water system limitations, leading to avoidable appeals, stalled construction timelines, and added development costs.

Your Committee further finds that the companion to this measure, H.B. 1923, H.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2026), a substantially similar measure, was previously passed by your Committee.

Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting its contents and inserting the contents of H.B. 1923, H.D. 1, a measure that:

(1) Requires service area maps to reflect water availability for developments proposed for at least one to four housing units per parcel;

(2) Requires service area maps to include general descriptions of certain information, rather than specific information, with certain exceptions;

(3) Requires each county board of water supply to publish the maps on their websites no later than January 1, 2029;

(4) Requires each county board of water supply to create a process to request a conditional clearance where maps identify water availability;

(5) Authorizes each county board of water supply to adopt rules; and

(6) Has an effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2398, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2398, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Water & Land.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

____________________________

LUKE A. EVSLIN, Chair