STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2323

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3154

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 Transportation and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 3154 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize the Department of Transportation to assume responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for highway projects, as well as railroad, public transportation, or multimodal projects within the State, allowing streamlined environmental reviews; and

(2) Provide a limited waiver of sovereign immunity to comply with federal requirements under 23 U.S.C. sections 326 and 327.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation.

Your Committees find that the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) allows state departments of transportation to assume federal environmental review responsibilities for highway and other transportation projects. Currently, the Department of Transportation is not authorized to assume NEPA responsibilities, enter memoranda of understanding with the United States Department of Transportation, or adopt federal environmental standards as state standards. This measure will authorize the Department of Transportation to assume federal environmental review responsibilities, enhancing the Department's ability to deliver critical infrastructure projects while maintaining environmental protections.

Your Committees have amended this measure by 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 Transportation and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3154, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3154, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair