HB2490 HD2

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that coastal erosion threatens the State's economic, natural, cultural, and spiritual assets. Mantokuji bay, Paia, in the county of Maui, exemplifies the threat and urgency of developing effective coastal management strategies. Mantokuji bay is a natural coastal cell spanning approximately one mile of shoreline, bounded by headlands and historically featuring a wide sand beach that buffered the land from ocean forces. The bay once sustained a balanced coastal ecosystem including sand dunes, rocky shoreline, coral reef structure, and habitat for endangered Hawaiian green sea turtles.

The legislature further finds that county sand mining operations in the 1930s removed significant quantities of beach sand for public works projects, triggering decades of accelerated erosion that has degraded water quality, damaged coral reef ecosystems, undercut natural headland rock features, and caused the bay to widen. According to the university of Hawaii coastal geology group, the Mantokuji bay coastline is retreating inland at an average rate of approximately 1.6 feet per year, threatening residences, infrastructure, and irreplaceable cultural sites along its shores.

The legislature notes that the most significant of the threatened cultural resources along the bay is the Paia Mantokuji, a Soto Zen Buddhist temple. Established in 1906, the temple is listed on the Hawaii register of historic places and is the oldest Soto Zen Buddhist temple in the State. The temple hosts one of the State's most popular annual Obon festivals, drawing thousands of visitors. The temple grounds contain sacred burial sites, including a former crematorium and numerous ancestral remains. Coastal erosion has caused ancestral burials to fall into the ocean, creating an urgent cultural and spiritual crisis while threatening the temple's structural integrity. The bay also buffers the Hana highway, the major transportation corridor for northeast Maui communities, from coastal hazards.

The legislature additionally finds that the State's historical parcel‑by-parcel coastal management approach has prevented comprehensive regional solutions and resulted in piecemeal hardening that exacerbated regional erosion. Past county sand mining in Mantokuji bay further contributed to current conditions. Effective protection requires addressing the entire bay as a natural coastal cell for specific regional coastal remediation. Coastal resilience approaches include nature-based solutions, enhancement of naturally occurring features such as headlands and reefs, hybrid natural-engineered systems, adaptive protection structures, and other innovative coastal adaptation strategies that offer opportunities to protect Mantokuji bay while maintaining environmental protection and shoreline access.

The legislature also finds, however, that traditional regulatory processes effectively make approval of regional bay‑wide resilience solutions extremely difficult due to overlapping jurisdictions and rigid criteria not designed for comprehensive coastal management.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to establish a five-year pilot program to implement comprehensive coastal resilience measures for Mantokuji bay that use streamlined regulatory processes while maintaining environmental and cultural protections, including protections related to Native Hawaiian skeletal remains, which may later be used to inform future statewide policy for protecting threatened coastal areas.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established within the department of business, economic development, and tourism a five-year coastal resilience pilot program to implement comprehensive, streamlined coastal management measures for the restoration and preservation of Mantokuji bay, Paia, in the county of Maui. Under the pilot program, the department shall approve and implement coastal management measures that support regional coastal remediation by addressing the entirety of Mantokuji bay as a natural coastal cell, rather than individual land parcels.

(b) The pilot program shall establish a monitoring program in a manner specified by the department to evaluate its efficacy and environmental impacts.

(c) The state historic preservation division shall conduct a streamlined historic preservation review to evaluate measures approved under the pilot program. The state historic preservation division shall require an archaeological literature review of archaeological and historical documentation for the area of potential effect and the project environment.

(d) The department shall coordinate with federal agencies to seek expedited review and approval of coastal management measures approved under the pilot program through consolidated applications and coordinated processes where feasible.

(e) Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 6E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, or chapter 13-300, Hawaii Administrative Rules, to the contrary, any Native Hawaiian skeletal remains discovered during activities conducted under the pilot program established pursuant to this Act shall be subject to the following procedures:

(1) Upon discovery of Native Hawaiian skeletal remains, all ground-disturbing activity within a reasonable buffer area surrounding the discovery site shall immediately cease, and the state historic preservation division and island burial council shall be notified within twenty-four hours;

(2) The applicant shall conduct a good-faith effort to identify lineal and cultural descendants, in consultation with the state historic preservation division, the office of Hawaiian affairs, and relevant Native Hawaiian organizations with knowledge of traditional practices and genealogical connections to the area;

(3) The island burial council shall determine whether the remains shall be preserved in place or relocated, following meaningful consultation with any identified lineal and cultural descendants; provided that the island burial council's determination shall give due consideration to the preferences expressed by the lineal descendants;

(4) The island burial council shall render its determination within forty-five days of notification, or at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the council at which a quorum is present, whichever is later; provided that the applicant and department of land and natural resources may mutually agree to a further extension of time if additional consultation with descendants or further archaeological assessment is warranted;

(5) All costs associated with required archaeological documentation, descendant consultation, burial treatment plans, and any mitigation measures shall be borne by the applicant; and

(6) No ground-disturbing activity shall resume within the buffer area established under paragraph (1) until the island burial council has rendered its determination and any required burial treatment plan has been approved by the state historic preservation division.

(f) Documented burials and any burials believed to be non-Native Hawaiian within the Mantokuji Soto Zen Mission cemetery shall not be subject to the requirements under subsection (e) and shall be managed in accordance with applicable department of health requirements and any other relevant state law governing established cemeteries.

(g) The applicant shall coordinate with the department of health regarding the identification, documentation, and treatment of any human remains from the Mantokuji Soto Zen Mission cemetery that may be encountered during pilot program activities.

(h) Notwithstanding any law or ordinance to the contrary, the pilot program may be exempt from:

(1) Chapter 183C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to conservation districts;

(2) Chapter 205A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to coastal zone management;

(3) Chapter 343, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to environmental impact statements;

(4) County ordinances regulating shoreline setback and variance requirements; and

(5) County building permit requirements specifically related to coastal resilience structures; provided that public safety standards shall be maintained.

(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt the pilot program from:

(1) Any federal laws and regulations, including but not limited to:

(A) United States Army Corps of Engineers permit requirements;

(B) Applicable requirements pursuant to section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended;

(D) Water quality certification requirements pursuant to the Clean Water Act of 1972, as amended; and

(E) Federal consistency review requirements pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1992, as amended;

(2) Article XII, section 7, of the Hawaii State Constitution, protecting traditional and customary rights of Native Hawaiians;

(3) Chapter 6E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to historic preservation; provided that only the streamlined historic preservation review required pursuant to subsection (c) shall apply; and

(4) Marine life protection laws and water quality standards.

(j) The department shall submit an annual report on the pilot program to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session. Each report shall include:

(1) A status report for the pilot program;

(2) An evaluation of the efficacy of the pilot program;

(3) Budget expenditures; and

(4) Any other findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation.

(k) As used in this section:

"Applicant" means the entity authorized to conduct coastal restoration activities under the pilot program.

"Department" means the department of business, economic development, and tourism.

"Island burial council" means the Maui/Lanaʻi island burial council established under section 6E-43.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, or any successor council with jurisdiction over the project area.

"Native Hawaiian skeletal remains" means human skeletal remains or burial goods of Native Hawaiian origin, as determined by the state historic preservation division

"Pilot program" means the coastal resilience pilot program established pursuant to subsection (a).

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 3000, and shall be repealed on June 30, 2031.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2490
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII