STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3714

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1619

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 1619, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Exclude the installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of an electric vehicle charging system from the definition of "development" as it applies to Special Management Areas; and

(2) Include the Public Utilities Commission in the development and implementation of plans to meet the long-term goals for zero-emissions transportation in the State.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Public Utilities Commission, Clean the Pacific, Green Party of Hawaiʻi, Hawaii Electric Vehicle Association, Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian Electric, 350 Hawaii, and thirty-one individuals.

Your Committee finds that the State requires approximately four thousand public electric vehicle charging ports by 2030 to support its zero emissions transportation goals, however there are currently fewer than one thousand installed statewide. Meeting the target will require removing certain permitting barriers that slow deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in key locations where public charging is most needed. This includes beaches, harbors, coastal parks, and tourism corridors, which fall within Special Management Areas, where installing an electric vehicle charger can trigger the same permitting process as a major coastal development project. This measure would allow electric vehicle chargers to be sited in prime coastal locations without the lengthy Special Management Areas permit process while retaining authority to require full review in the rare cases where cumulative or significant impacts exist.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1619, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1619, H.D. 2, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

________________________________

JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair