RELATING TO ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE.

HB1619

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1619

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to electric vehicle infrastructure
.

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

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SECTION
1
.
�
Section
205A-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of
"development" to read as follows:

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""Development":

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(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:

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

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(2)
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Does
not include the following:

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

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

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(D)
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Repair and maintenance of underground
utility lines, including but not limited to water, sewer, power, and telephone
and minor appurtenant structures including 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)
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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;

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(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;

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

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(L)
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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;

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

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

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

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

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(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;

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

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

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

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

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

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(W)
�
Reconstruction of
any lawfully constructed structure that was damaged or destroyed in a disaster
proclaimed by the governor to constitute a state of emergency pursuant to
chapter 127A, or a disaster declared pursuant to federal law; provided that:

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(i)
�
The structure is
not situated on a shoreline parcel or a parcel that is impacted by waves, storm
surges, high tide, or shoreline erosion;

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(ii)
�
Reconstruction
commences within six years from the date that the proclamation is issued; and

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(iii)
�
The reconstructed
structure is similar to its original footprint or overall dimensions that were
existing or permitted and in compliance with the requirements of floodplain
management standards;
and

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(X)
�
Construction,
installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of an electric vehicle
charging system, including electrical infrastructure and underground utility
lines that service the system, as a minor structure;

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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
2
.
�
Section 225P-8,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (c) and (d) to read
as follows:

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"
(c)
�
The department
of transportation, office of planning and sustainable development, [
and
]
Hawaii state energy office
, and public utilities commission
shall:

����
(1)
�
Develop plans in
coordination with the clean ground transportation working group and interisland
clean transportation working group to ensure that the State's electric charging
capacity is sufficient to support the growing use of electric modes of
transportation by providing for an increase of the State's electric charging
capacity at a rate that exceeds:

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(A)
�
The rate by which
electric vehicle sales are projected to replace internal combustion vehicle
sales; and

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(B)
�
The rate by which
other electric transportation options are projected to require charging
capacity;

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(2)
�
Allow continued
access to high-occupancy vehicle lanes by electric vehicles until electric
vehicles constitute at least forty per cent of all new vehicle sales; and

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(3)
�
Develop and
implement other options to accelerate the transition to zero-emissions
transportation.

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(d)
�

The department of transportation [
and
]
,
Hawaii state
energy office
, and public utilities commission
may adopt rules pursuant
to chapter 91 to effectuate this section."

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SECTION 3.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.

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SECTION 4.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its approval;
provided that the amendments made to the definition of "development"
under section 205A-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by section 1 of this Act shall
not be repealed when that section is reenacted on July 1, 2028, pursuant to
section 5 of Act 304, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Zero-emission
Transportation Goals; Electric Vehicle Infrastructure; Special Management
Areas; Exclusion

Description:

Excludes
from the definition of "development", as it applies to special
management areas, the construction, installation, maintenance, repair, and
replacement of an electric vehicle charging system as a minor structure.
�
Includes the Public Utilities Commission in
the development and implementation of plans to meet the long-term goals for
zero-emissions transportation in the State.

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