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HB915
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
915
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating
to water use
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
����
SECTION
1
.
�
Section 167-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:
����
"
[
[
]�167-5[
]
]
�
Powers.
�
In addition to any other powers granted to the board of agriculture for
the purpose of carrying out all of its functions and duties, the board shall
have the following powers for the purposes of this chapter:
����
(1)
�
To acquire by eminent domain, water and
water sources either above or underground, watershed, reservoir sites,
rights-of-way over lands and property for paths, trails, roads, and landing
sites, ditches, tunnels, flumes, reservoirs, and pipelines necessary or proper
for the construction and maintenance of water facilities for conveying,
distributing, and transmitting water for irrigation and domestic use and for [
such
]
other purposes as may properly fall within the scope of its activities in
creating, managing, controlling, operating, and maintaining irrigation water
facilities, any of which purposes shall be held to be for a public use and
purpose;
����
(2)
�
To make and execute contracts and other
instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of the powers of the board,
including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, contracts and
other instruments for the purchase or sale of water and for the purchase or
lease of water facilities for irrigation of the area, including but not limited
to the production of agricultural products and the land on which the facilities
are situated, and for securing to the owners and occupiers of land already using
water in a project a priority right to so much water from those of their
sources and facilities [
which
]
that
are taken over for the
project as is required for the purposes or needs of the land, whether
agricultural or nonagricultural in nature, as [
such
]
those
purposes or needs exist at the inception of the project or are then
contemplated in the immediate future;
����
(3)
�
To [
make and from time to time
]
adopt,
amend
,
and repeal bylaws and rules, not inconsistent with this chapter,
which upon compliance with chapter 91 shall have the force and effect of law,
to carry into effect the powers and purposes of the board;
����
(4)
�
To make surveys for the purposes of
determining the engineering and economic feasibility of each project;
����
(5)
�
To conduct or have prepared
comprehensive studies of the crops, livestock, and poultry [
which
]
that
may be profitably grown or produced within each project and the probable market
for [
such
]
those
crops, livestock, and poultry;
����
(6)
�
To conduct feasibility studies of the
economic potential of the area;
����
(7)
�
To determine the probable costs and
value of providing water for irrigation in any proposed project;
����
(8)
�
To investigate and make surveys of
water resources, including
the availability of nonpotable water and
the
possibility and feasibility of inducing rain by artificial or other means;
and
����
(9)
�
To define and redefine the boundaries
of projects and to consolidate or separate projects, existing or proposed
pursuant to this chapter[
,
]
;
provided that in the event the
redefinition of the boundaries or the consolidation or separation previously
effected increased the total amount required to be derived from acreage
assessments upon lands within the existing project or projects by more than
five per cent or will require an increase in the tolls charged for water
supplied to the lands or will reduce the amount of water normally available for
distribution to the lands, then the redefinition, consolidation, or separation
may be accomplished only after notice has been published and a public hearing
held as required for the formation of a project upon the initiative of the
board.
�
At the hearing, right to protest
and the procedure relative to protest shall be the same as specified in section
167-17 concerning the formation of projects, and the proposed redefinition of
boundaries, consolidation, or separation of projects shall not be accomplished
if protests, such as would be sufficient to prevent the action if it were the
formation of a project, are filed by owners and lessees of land within the
existing projects or projects affected thereby.
����
The
board is empowered, upon petition of land occupiers as provided by section
167-13, or upon petition of the Hawaiian homes commission or upon its own
initiative, to prepare detailed plans for the acquisition or construction of
facilities for irrigation or for economic development [
which
]
that
in its opinion are economically feasible, to prepare estimates of the probable
cost of each, and to prepare estimates of the water tolls and acreage
assessments required for the cost of operation and the amortization of the
investment of each project, so that the project shall be self-supporting."
����
SECTION
2
.
�
Section 167-12,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
����
"
[
[
]�167-12[
]
]
�
Lands included within irrigation projects.
�
(a)
�
Except as otherwise expressly permitted in the chapter, lands to be
included within an irrigation project shall be only those used or to be used in
farming.
�
The number of acres of
agricultural and pasture land of each land occupier within the project shall be
determined by the board of agriculture and shall not be increased or decreased,
nor shall any [
such
] land included within a project thereafter be
withdrawn, after final determination to construct the project, except in the
manner and with the limitations specified in this chapter by redefining the
boundaries of a project.
�
The project
shall include only such lands as can be adequately irrigated by the quantity of
water and facilities to be provided under normal conditions of supply.
�
No land [
which
]
that
at the
time of formation of the project is irrigated, or is devoted to the cultivation
for commercial purposes of sugar, pineapples, coffee, bananas, citrus, papayas,
or macadamia nuts, or other horticultural crops, whether or not the land so
devoted is irrigated, or is being devoted to an industrial or townsite or other
use of greater economic value than agriculture shall be included in the project
if the owner of the land (or the land occupier thereof if other than the owner,
in the event that the land occupier is legally chargeable with the acreage
assessments) shall object in writing to the inclusion.
�
The foregoing provisions of this [
paragraph
]
subsection
shall be applicable to all irrigation projects.
����
(b)
�
Notwithstanding the limitation expressed in [
the
foregoing paragraph, lands
]
subsection (a):
����
(1)
�
Lands
of the State used by the
University of Hawaii for experimental farms may be included in irrigation
projects[
,
]
;
provided the board of regents undertakes the payment
of water tolls and acreage assessments and for the purposes of the inclusion
the University of Hawaii shall be deemed a land occupier within the meaning of
this chapter[
.
�
Lands
]
;
provided further that lands
within the farms shall be assessed accordingly
as the same are of the character of agricultural or pasture lands, as defined
in this chapter, although they are used for experimental purposes[
.
�
The
]
; provided further that the
assessments shall not[
, however,
] become a lien upon the lands[
.
]
;
and
����
(2)
�
Residential and mixed-use
developments described in section 174C-51.5 may also be included in irrigation
projects; provided that the water shall be sourced from county-supplied R-1
water.
"
����
SECTION
3
.
�
Section
174C-51.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:
����
1.
�
By amending its title and subsection (a) to
read:
����
"
[
[
]�174C-51.5[
]
]
�
Dual line water supply systems; installation
in [
new industrial and commercial
]
certain
developments located
in designated water management areas.
�
(a)
�
The commission, as a
condition for issuing permits pursuant to this part, may require the use of
dual line water supply systems in new industrial and commercial developments
and
new residential and mixed-use developments
located in designated water
management areas.
�
The commission shall
not require the use of dual line water supply systems if:
����
(1)
�
There is a threat to existing water
quality or to public health and safety, as determined by the department of
health;
����
(2)
�
A source of nonpotable water will not
be reasonably available in the near future as determined by the commission; or
����
(3)
�
There is a serious threat to permitted
ground or surface water uses within a designated water management area as
determined by the commission."
����
2.
�
By amending subsection (c) to read:
����
"(c)
�
For the purposes of this section[
, the
term
]:
����
[
"Developments"
means one or more commercial or industrial subdivisions approved after May 30,
2000.
�
It shall not apply to any
modification, addition to, or replacement of, any commercial or industrial subdivision
in existence prior to May 30, 2000.
]
����
"Dual
line water supply system" means a supply system that distributes potable
and nonpotable water through parallel but separate distribution lines.
����
"Industrial
and commercial development" means one or more commercial or industrial
subdivisions approved after May 30, 2000.
�
It shall not apply to any modification, addition to, or replacement of,
any commercial or industrial subdivision in existence prior to May 30, 2000.
����
"Residential
and mixed-use development" means one or more residential or mixed-use
subdivisions approved after June 30, 2025.
�
"Mixed use-development" includes mixed-use developments as
defined under section 201H-12(a); provided that the term "commercial
use" as used in that definition shall include commercial agricultural use.
"
����
SECTION
4.
�
(a)
�
This Act shall preempt any state or county rule, ordinance, policy,
procedure, guideline, or other material that precludes or restricts the
installation or use of a
dual line water supply system in a residential
or mixed-use development, as authorized by this Act.
����
(b)
�
The
department of health, board of agriculture, and each county shall:
����
(1)
�
Review
their respective rules, ordinances, policies, procedures, guidelines, and other
materials, including the department of health reuse guidelines and each county's
zoning and building code; and
����
(2)
�
Amend
any provisions that conflict with this Act or otherwise preclude or restrict
the installation of a dual line water supply system in a residential or
mixed-use development, as authorized by this Act.
����
(c)
�
N
otwithstanding any department of health rule, policy, procedure,
guideline, or material to the contrary, including the department of health
reuse guidelines, volume II, the irrigation of a single-family residential home
shall be permitted without the designation of a recycled water manager.
����
SECTION
5.
�
This Act does not affect rights and
duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were
begun before its effective date.
����
SECTION
6.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.
����
SECTION
7.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Water; CWRM;
Residential and Mixed-use Developments; Board of Agriculture; DOH; Counties; Irrigation
Projects
Description:
Authorizes
the Commission on Water Resource Management, as a condition for issuing
permits, to require the use of dual line water supply systems in new
residential and mixed-use developments located in designated water management
areas.
�
Authorizes those residential and
mixed-use developments to be included in irrigation projects, as defined in
chapter 167, HRS.
�
Authorizes the Board
of Agriculture to investigate and survey the availability of nonpotable water.
�
Requires the Department of Health, Board of Agriculture,
and the counties to update their rules, ordinances,
�
to allow dual line water supply systems in
residential and mixed-use developments.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.