HB2102 HD1

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the protection of iwi kupuna (ancestral remains) and cultural and historic resources is a matter of utmost importance. The Hawaii State Constitution requires the State to safeguard iwi kupuna as part of its public trust obligations and to protect the exercise of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices. These constitutional obligations have long been implemented under the historic preservation review process to ensure that potential impacts are carefully identified and assessed, and to provide lineal and cultural descendants with meaningful opportunities to guide the treatment of iwi kupuna through the island burial councils.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to reaffirm the State's commitment to safeguard iwi kupuna and other cultural and historic resources and to restore the integrity of the State's historic preservation program by clarifying and expanding the types of proposed projects for privately-owned residential properties that are subject to historic review.

SECTION 2. Section 6E-42.2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§6E-42.2 Excluded activities for privately-owned [~~single-family detached dwelling units and townhouses, residential projects, and nominally sensitive areas.~~] residential properties. (a) An application for a proposed project on [an ~~existing~~] a privately-owned [~~single-family detached dwelling unit or townhouse~~] residential property shall be subject to the requirements of section 6E-42 only if [~~the single-family detached dwelling unit or townhouse~~] the proposed project involves the modification of a residential structure that is over fifty years old and [~~is:~~] one or more of the following applies:

(1) [~~Listed~~] The proposed project is listed on the Hawaii or national register of historic places, or both;

(2) [~~Nominated~~] The proposed project is nominated for inclusion on the Hawaii or national register of historic places, or both; or

(3) [~~Located~~] The proposed project is located in a nationally, state-, or locally designated historic district[.];

(4) The proposed project involves ground-disturbing activity and:

(A) Occurs on land containing sandy soils, lava tubes, karst features, or caves; and

(B) The ground-disturbing activity exceeds the excavation of topsoil and occurs on, or adjacent to, land that contains:

(i) Previously identified burials or cemeteries; or

(ii) A historic property previously determined to have an important value to native Hawaiians or to another ethnic group of the State due to associations with cultural practices once carried out, or still carried out, at the property or due to associations with traditional beliefs, events, or oral accounts important to native Hawaiians or another ethnic group connected to the State's history and cultural identity; or

(5) The proposed project contains five or more dwelling units, and ground-disturbing activity is deeper than the depth of the deepest existing foundation on the parcel.

[(b) An application for a proposed project on an existing residential property shall be subject to the requirements of section 6E-42 only if the existing residential property is over fifty years old and is registered on the Hawaii register of historic places.

~~(c)~~] (b) An application for a proposed project in a nominally sensitive area shall not be subject to the requirements of section 6E-42.

[~~(d)~~] (c) For the purposes of this section:

"Dwelling unit" means a building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively for residential occupancy and having all necessary facilities for permanent residency such as living, sleeping, cooking, eating, and sanitation.

["Nominally sensitive area" means a project area that is known to include a low density of historic, cultural, or archaeological resources, or where the project area has been substantially disturbed by previous excavation or other ground-disturbing work and no significant historic properties have been previously identified.]

"Ground-disturbing activity" means any activity that disturbs, penetrates, displaces, or excavates soil or subsurface materials, including grading, trenching, digging, augering, drilling, post-hole installation, foundation work, utility installation, excavation, or landscaping activities that disturb the ground surface.

"Karst" means a landform characterized by subsurface cavities, voids, or solution features formed by the dissolution of soluble rock, including caves, sinkholes, and underground drainage features.

"Nominally sensitive area" means a project area that is known to include a low density of historic, cultural, or archaeological resources, or where the project area has been substantially disturbed by previous excavation or other ground-disturbing work and no significant historic properties have been previously identified, or as otherwise defined by the department, in coordination with the counties, through rules adopted pursuant to chapter 91.

"Sandy soil" means soil classified by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service as sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam, including Jaucas sands, beaches sand, and other coastal or aeolian sand deposits.

["Single-family detached dwelling unit" means an individual, freestanding, unattached dwelling unit, typically built on a lot larger than the structure itself, resulting in an area surrounding the dwelling.]

"Topsoil" means the uppermost naturally occurring soil layer characterized by organic material and biological activity, typically extending to a depth of approximately twelve inches below the ground surface, or to the depth of the naturally occurring organic horizon, whichever is less.

"Townhouse" has the same meaning as in section 502C-1."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 3000.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2102
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII