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HB352
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
352
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating
to renewable energy
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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SECTION 1.
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The legislature finds that Act 97, Session
Laws of Hawaii 2015, requires electric utilities in the State to achieve a one
hundred per cent renewable portfolio standard by December 31, 2045, to
transition the State away from imported fossil fuels and toward locally
available renewable energy sources.
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The legislature further finds that
to encourage the timely build-out of a diverse, resilient, and reliable
portfolio of low-cost renewable energy generation and storage assets, Hawaii
must lower the administrative barriers that constrain deployment of residential
and commercial-scale distributed energy resources.
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The legislature further finds that
the permitting review process currently adds substantial time and cost to the
adoption of residential solar and energy storage projects and that
self-certification by duly licensed design professionals can significantly
reduce this time, cost, and administrative burden without sacrificing public
health and safety.
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The legislature further finds that
unnecessary and misapplied rules in federally designated flood zones add undue
time and cost to the installation of affordable and reliable renewable energy
systems in vulnerable frontline communities, significantly hampering efforts to
bolster their resiliency and protection from risk.
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The purpose of this Act is to reduce
administrative barriers to the deployment of energy generation and storage
technology systems by requiring government entities in the State to implement
permitting self-certification and streamlined, common-sense permitting
processes in federally designated flood zones real time by .
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SECTION 2.
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Chapter 196, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read
as follows:
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�196-
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Self-certification;
solar projects; energy storage projects.
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(a)
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Any government entity in the State that
issues building permits shall establish a self‑certification process for
behind‑the‑meter, customer‑sited solar distributed energy
resource systems that deems permit applications approved and allows applicants
to proceed to build the solar distributed energy resource system immediately;
provided that the government entity receives written notice from:
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(1)
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The project
owner, or an agent of the project owner, that the owner or agent requests
issuance of the permit and is prepared to pay any required fees; and
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(2)
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The projects'
relevant professionals are licensed in their respective fields and that the
installation of the project shall comply with all applicable codes and laws.
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(b)
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The self-certification process shall allow a
project's relevant professionals to conduct permit reviews and inspections
using commercially available software and the professionals' approvals shall be
accepted without additional documentation; provided that the submitted
documentation demonstrates compliance with all applicable codes and laws.
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In addition, the self-certification process
shall allow a project's relevant design professionals to utilize offline field
reports for inspections that use photos and videos submitted remotely to ensure
faster, asynchronous reviews without added cost or delays.
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These measures ensure efficient, standardized
permitting and inspection for behind-the-meter, customer-sited solar
distributed energy resource systems.
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(c)
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If the
requirements of subsection (a) and (b) are satisfied, the applicable government
entity in the State that issues building permits shall issue the building
permit number and close the permit within thirty days of submittal of the
application.
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(d)
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As used in this section:
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"Offline field report"
means a report that uses photos and videos taken of the project on site and
sent to a permitting authority to allow inspection remotely and asynchronously.
"Solar
distributed energy resource system" means an assembly of solar
energy-generating or energy-storing materials, or any combined assembly of
solar energy-generating and energy-storing materials, and the related
infrastructure necessary for its operation.
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�196-
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Solar distributed energy resource systems;
No‑Rise/No‑Impact declaration requirements; exemption from Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
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Any
government entity in the State that issues building permits shall exempt
behind-the-meter, customer-sited solar distributed energy resource systems from
the Federal Emergency Management Agency No-Rise/No-Impact declaration
requirements; provided that the project:
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(1)
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Shall comply
with all applicable codes and laws;
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(2)
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Is properly
installed on an already existing structure; and
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(3)
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Does not create
additional obstruction within the designated flood zone.
The value of the solar and storage distributed
energy resource systems shall not be included in Federal Emergency Management
Agency flood zone valuation calculations.
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SECTION
2.
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New statutory material is
underscored.
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SECTION 3
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This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Solar
Distributed Energy Resource Systems; Permitting Self‑Certification; Federal
Emergency Management Agency Flood Zone No-Rise/No Impact Declaration Requirements
Description:
Authorizes
certain state government entities to establish a self-certification process for
behind-the-meter, customer-sited solar distributed energy resource systems and
exempt the systems from the Federal Emergency Management Agency
No-Rise/No-Impact declaration requirements under certain circumstances.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.