STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3364

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1823

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 Water, Land, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred H.B. No. 1823, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT ACT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the definition of "development" as it pertains to coastal zone management areas and to:

(1) Specify that certain activities should be exempt from special management area use permit requirements; and

(2) Exempt federal-, state-, or county-funded, authorized, or implemented infrastructure and improvement projects that are exempt from an environmental assessment or for which a finding of no significant impact has been issued.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Office of the Mayor of the County of Maui, one member of the Maui County Council, Hawaiʻi Food+ Policy; and Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kūpuna for the Moʻopuna, Free Access Coalition, Kauai Climate Action Coalition, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, Shimanchu Mamuyaa, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, and twenty-nine individuals.

Your Committee finds that it is in the public interest to streamline the delivery of essential public infrastructure and that this may partly be accomplished by exempting certain permitting requirements for projects legally determined to be exempt from the preparation of an environmental assessment or to have no significant environmental impact. When applied to the State's coastal zones, your Committee also finds that the national framework created by the federal Coastal Zone Management Act regulated permitting in special development areas but allowed certain activities to proceed without delays. Your Committee concludes that this approach should be mirrored in the State's definition of "development" within special management areas, as defined in section 205A-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes. By expressly expanding the scope of exemptions to special management area use permit requirements, this measure will expedite the completion of public works and contribute to the safety, economic development, and resilience of coastal communities.

Your Committee notes that S.B. No. 2547, S.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2026), is a substantially similar measure that also amends the definition of "development", as it pertains to coastal zone management, to exclude any state- or county-funded infrastructure improvement project that is exempted from an environmental assessment or determined as a finding of no significant impact under chapter 343, Hawaii Revised Statutes. Your Committee finds that the language in S.B. No. 2547, S.D. 1 (2026) is preferable because it limits the application of the amended definition to certain zones established in Lahaina. Amendments to this measure are therefore necessary to address these changes.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by deleting its contents and inserting the contents of S.B. No. 2547, S.D. 1 (2026), a measure that:

(1) Amends the definition of "development," as it pertains to coastal zone management, to exclude any state- or county-funded infrastructure improvement project that is exempted from an environmental assessment or determined as a finding of no significant impact under chapter 343, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(2) Applies only to zones established in Lahaina in the aftermath of the 2023 Maui wildfires that have been designated for reentry by the State or county of Maui as of January 1, 2026;

(3) Inserts an effective date of July 1, 2050; and

(4) Inserts a sunset date of June 30, 2029.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1823, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1823, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair