Read the full stored bill text
HB2102
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
2102
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING
TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
����
SECTION 1.
�
The legislature finds that the protection of
iwi k
u
puna
(ancestral remains) and cultural and
historic resources is a matter of utmost importance.
�
The Hawaii State Constitution requires the
State to safeguard iwi kupuna as part of its public trust obligations and to
protect the exercise of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices.
�
These constitutional obligations have long
been implemented under the review process established in chapter 6E, Hawaii
Revised Statutes, to ensure that potential impacts are carefully identified and
assessed, and to provide lineal and cultural descendants with meaningful
opportunities to guide the treatment of iwi kupuna through the island burial
councils.
����
The legislature further finds that recent
statutory changes introduced new exemptions to the historic preservation review
process that significantly weaken its protective framework.
�
Allowing certain types of projects to avoid
review significantly heightens the risk of inadvertent discovery, disturbance,
and destruction of iwi kupuna, especially if the projects involve ground-disturbing
activities in culturally sensitive areas.
�
Similarly, the arbitrary creation of land
sensitivity categories in statute without prior proper surveys has the effect
of excluding from review large areas that are likely to contain iwi kupuna or
other cultural and historic sites.
�
Designation
of land sensitivity areas should only be implemented by historic preservation
professionals.
����
The legislature further finds that
increases in inadvertent discoveries of iwi kupuna will diminish the
decision-making role of the island burial councils, thereby curtailing the
voices of descendants in matters directly affecting their kupuna.
�
This skirting of consultation and oversight
undermines constitutional protections for Native Hawaiian traditional and
customary practices and the public trust in preserving Hawaii's cultural
resources.
����
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act
is to reaffirm the State's commitment to safeguard iwi kupuna and other
cultural and historic resources and to restore the integrity of the State's
historic preservation program by:
����
(1)
�
Clarifying that a
residential project involving ground disturbance in high-risk areas remains
subject to review; and
����
(2)
�
Removing the
historic review exemption for lands presumed nominally sensitive.
����
SECTION
2
.
�
Section
6E-42.2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
����
"
�6E-42.2
�
Excluded activities for
existing
privately-owned [
single-family detached dwelling units and
townhouses, residential projects, and nominally sensitive areas.
]
low-unit
residential properties.
�
(a)
�
An application for a proposed project on an
existing privately-owned [
single-family detached dwelling unit or townhouse
]
low-unit residential property
shall be subject to the requirements of
section 6E-42 only if [
the single-family detached dwelling unit or townhouse
is over fifty years old and is:
]
one or more of the following applies:
����
(1)
�
The proposed
project involves the modification of an existing residential structure that is more
than fifty years old and is:
���
[
(1)
]
(A)
�
Listed on the Hawaii or national register of historic places, or both;
���
[
(2)
]
(B)
�
Nominated for inclusion on the Hawaii or national register of historic
places, or both; or
���
[
(3)
]
(C)
�
Located in a historic district[.]; or
����
(2)
�
The proposed
project involves ground-disturbing activity and:
���������
(A)
�
Occurs
on, or adjacent to, land containing sandy soils; or
���������
(B)
�
The
ground-disturbing activity exceeds the excavation of topsoil and occurs on, or
adjacent to, land that contains:
�������������
(i)
�
Previously
identified burials or cemeteries;
������������
(ii)
�
Lava
tubes, karst features, or caves; or
�����������
(iii)
�
A
historic property previously determined to be significant under criterion "e"
of either section 13-284-6(b)(5) or 13-275-6(b)(5), Hawaii Administrative
Rules.
����
[
(b)
�
An application for a proposed project on an
existing residential property shall be subject to the requirements of section
6E-42 only if the existing residential property is over fifty years old and is
registered on the Hawaii register of historic places.
����
(c)
�
An application for a proposed project in a
nominally sensitive area shall not be subject to the requirements of section
6E-42.
����
(d)
]
(b)
�
For the purposes of this section:
����
"Dwelling unit" means a
building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively for residential
occupancy and having all necessary facilities for permanent residency such as
living, sleeping, cooking, eating, and sanitation.
����
[
"Nominally sensitive
area" means a project area that is known to include a low density of
historic, cultural, or archaeological resources, or where the project area has
been substantially disturbed by previous excavation or other ground-disturbing
work and no significant historic properties have been previously identified.
]
����
"Existing privately-owned
low-unit residential property" means a property that has previously been
zoned residential and maintains previously constructed residential structures
consisting of one or more single-family detached dwelling units, townhouses,
accessory dwelling units, or multi-family dwellings; provided that the property
contains no more than four dwelling units in total.
����
"Ground-disturbing
activity" means any activity that disturbs, penetrates, displaces, or
excavates soil or subsurface materials, including grading, trenching, digging,
augering, drilling, post-hole installation, foundation work, utility installation,
excavation, or landscaping activities that disturb the ground surface.
����
"Karst" means a
landform characterized by subsurface cavities, voids, or solution features
formed by the dissolution of soluble rock, including caves, sinkholes, and
underground drainage features.
����
"Sandy soil" means soil
classified by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources
Conservation Service as sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam,
including Jaucas sands, beaches sand, and other coastal or aeolian sand
deposits.
����
"Single-family detached
dwelling unit" means an individual, freestanding, unattached dwelling
unit, typically built on a lot larger than the structure itself, resulting in
an area surrounding the dwelling.
����
"Topsoil" means the
uppermost naturally occurring soil layer characterized by organic material and
biological activity, typically extending to a depth of approximately twelve
inches below the ground surface, or to the depth of the naturally occurring
organic horizon, whichever is less.
����
"Townhouse" has the same
meaning as in section 502C-1."
����
SECTION
3.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.
����
SECTION 4.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
By Request
Report Title:
Office of
Hawaiian Affairs Package; Historic Preservation; Exclusions
Description:
Clarifies that residential projects involving ground
disturbance in high-risk areas remains subject to review under the State
Historic Preservation Program.
�
Removes
the historic review exemption for lands presumed nominally sensitive.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.