STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2483

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2373

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2373 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CARBON SEQUESTRATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a state goal to strengthen nature-based carbon emissions reduction solutions;

(2) Direct certain state agencies to identify opportunities for investing in nature-based solutions that reduce carbon emissions;

(3) Authorize the Hawaii State Energy Office to develop methodologies to quantify carbon emissions reductions through marine ecosystem restoration and nature-based solutions; and

(4) Require a report to the Legislature.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Imua Alliance, Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi, Hawaii Reef and Ocean Association, and one individual.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Hawaii State Energy Office, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, National Environmental Health Association, and Life of the Land.

Your Committees find that as an island chain, Hawaii is uniquely vulnerable to intensifying coastal hazards resulting from accelerating sea level rise. In response to the growing threat of climate change, the State has set standards and launched initiatives to expand reliance on renewable energy and established goals for the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits. Your Committees further find that nature-based solutions, such as ecosystem and environmental protection and restoration, are cost-effective, durable approaches that both sequester carbon and enhance ecosystem services like coastal protection. By prioritizing nature-based carbon sequestration solutions, this measure will support the State's long-term commitment to decarbonization.

Your Committees acknowledge the concerns raised in testimony by the Hawaii State Energy Office that nature-based decarbonization methods may fall outside the scope of the Office's mandate. Therefore, amendments to the measure are necessary to address this concern.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Replacing the Hawaii State Energy Office with the Department of Land and Natural Resources to maintain jurisdiction and responsibility for nature-based carbon sequestration initiatives;

(2) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(3) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2373, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2373, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair