RELATING TO DISASTER RECOVERY.

HB1503

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1503

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to disaster recovery
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

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SECTION
1
.
�
Section
205A-21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

����
"
�205A-21
�
Findings and purposes.
�
The legislature finds that[
,
] special
controls on developments within an area along the shoreline are necessary to
avoid permanent losses of valuable resources and the foreclosure of management
options, and to ensure that adequate access
is provided
, by dedication
or other means, to public owned or used beaches, recreation areas, and natural
reserves [
is provided
].
�
The
legislature finds and declares that it is the [
state
]
State's

policy to preserve, protect, and where possible, to restore the natural
resources of the coastal zone of Hawaii.

����
The legislature further finds
that the wildfires of August 8, 2023, devastated Lahaina's heritage,
economy, and sense of place, and has deeply affected housing, business, jobs,
and treasured resources.
�
If the area is
not rebuilt in a deliberate, coordinated, and expeditious manner, the area may
languish in the long term and affect the well-being of the land, people, and
economy.
�
However, the legislature
recognizes that there is an opportunity to rebuild Lahaina by preserving and
reintroducing its valued resources in a manner that reflects the values and
priorities of its residents and businesses, and addresses future challenges,
including climate change and affordable housing.
"

����
SECTION
2
.
�
Section
205A-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of
"development" to read as follows:

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""Development":

����
(1)
�
Means any of the
uses, activities, or operations on land or in or under water within a special
management area that are included below:

���������
(A)
�
Placement or erection of any solid
material or any gaseous, liquid, solid, or thermal waste;

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(B)
�
Grading, removing, dredging, mining, or
extraction of any materials;

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(C)
�
Change in the density or intensity of
use of land, including but not limited to the division or subdivision of land;

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(D)
�
Change in the intensity of use of
water, ecology related thereto, or of access thereto; and

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(E)
�
Construction, reconstruction, or
alteration of the size of any structure; and

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(2)
�
Does
not include the following:

���������
(A)
�
Construction or reconstruction of a
single-family residence that is less than seven thousand five hundred square
feet of floor area; is not situated on a shoreline parcel or a parcel that is
impacted by waves, storm surges, high tide, or shoreline erosion; and is not
part of a larger development;

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(B)
�
Repair or maintenance of roads and
highways within existing rights-of-way;

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(C)
�
Routine maintenance dredging of
existing streams, channels, and drainage ways;

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(D)
�
Repair and maintenance of underground
utility lines, including but not limited to water, sewer, power, and telephone
and minor appurtenant structures such as pad mounted transformers and sewer
pump stations;

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(E)
�
Zoning variances, except for height,
density, parking, and shoreline setback;

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(F)
�
Repair, maintenance, or interior
alterations to existing structures;

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(G)
�
Demolition or removal of structures,
except those structures located on any historic site as designated in national
or state registers;

���������
(H)
�
Use of any land for the purpose of
cultivating, planting, growing, and harvesting plants, crops, trees, and other
agricultural, horticultural, or forestry products or animal husbandry, or
aquaculture or mariculture of plants or animals, or other agricultural
purposes, including all traditional fishpond and traditional agricultural
practices;

���������
(I)
�
Transfer of title to land;

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(J)
�
Creation or termination of easements,
covenants, or other rights in structures or land;

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(K)
�
Subdivision of land into lots greater
than twenty acres in size;

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(L)
�
Subdivision of a parcel of land into
four or fewer parcels when no associated construction activities are proposed;
provided that any land that is so subdivided shall not thereafter qualify for
this exception with respect to any subsequent subdivision of any of the
resulting parcels;

���������
(M)
�
Installation of underground utility
lines and appurtenant aboveground fixtures less than four feet in height along
existing corridors;

���������
(N)
�
Structural and nonstructural
improvements to existing single-family residences, where otherwise permissible;

���������
(O)
�
Nonstructural
improvements to existing commercial or noncommercial structures;

���������
(P)
�
Construction,
installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of emergency management
warning or signal devices and sirens;

���������
(Q)
�
Installation,
maintenance, repair, and replacement of public pedestrian and bicycle
facilities, including sidewalks, paths, bikeways, crosswalks, stairs, ramps,
traffic control barriers, signs, signals, and associated improvements;

���������
(R)
�
Trash removal or
invasive vegetation removal or control, including incidental ground
disturbance, excluding the use of herbicides;

���������
(S)
�
Installation of
fencing, including associated improvements and incidental structures, for
invasive species control or preservation of native habitats on conservation
land;

���������
(T)
�
Installation,
maintenance, repair, and replacement of lighting, fixtures, and equipment to
establish compliance with current standards at existing public facilities;

���������
(U)
�
Installation,
maintenance, repair, and replacement of security measures, including fencing,
to existing public facilities; [
and
]

���������
(V)
�
Hawaiian
traditional and customary practices, including work conducted by traditional
means near, in, or related to loko i
`
a,
traditional Hawaiian fishponds;
and

���������
(W)
�
Reconstruction
of all or a portion of a structure in the Lahaina national historic landmark
district; provided that:

�������������
(i)
�
The
structure was destroyed by a wildfire on August 8, 2023;

������������
(ii)
�
Reconstruction
commences on or before August 8, 2028; and

�����������
(iii)
�
The
reconstructed structure is no larger than the structure that existed, or, in
the case of partial construction, the structure that was permitted, as of
August 8, 2023;

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provided that whenever the
authority finds that any excluded use, activity, or operation may have a
cumulative impact, or a significant environmental or ecological effect on a
special management area, that use, activity, or operation shall be defined as "development"
for the purpose of this part."

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SECTION
3.
�
This Act does not affect rights and
duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were
begun before its effective date.

����
SECTION
4.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.

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SECTION 5.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Coastal
Zone Management; Lahaina; Reconstruction

Description:

Excludes from
the definition of "development" for purposes of coastal zone
management restrictions, the reconstruction, under certain circumstances, of structures
destroyed in the August 8, 2023, wildfires in Lahaina, Maui.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.