RELATING TO FIRE PREVENTION.

SB2237

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2237

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

Relating
to Fire Prevention
.

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

����
SECTION 1.
�
The legislature finds that the frequency and
severity of wildfires has increased drastically in the State in recent
years.
�
The land area burned annually by
wildfires has increased three-fold in the last twenty years.
�
Climate change is a significant contributing
factor to rising wildfire risks.
�
Longer,
more intense droughts create dry conditions in which vegetation, especially
invasive plants, dries out and more easily ignites.

����
The
proliferation of non-native plants in the State also contributes to the rising
impact of wildfires.
�
Invasive grass
species such as guinea grass and buffelgrass grow pervasively on abandoned
agricultural lands, constituting hazardous fuel loads and high fire risk.
�
Invasive species are often highly fire
adaptive, quicker spreading, and more fire-prone than native plants.
�
Due to these conditions, wildfires in native
ecosystems lead to a dangerous cycle of long-term conversion to more fire-prone
landscapes as native vegetation burns and is replaced by its invasive
competitors.

����
The
legislature further finds that most wildfires are caused by human activity and
therefore preventable.
�
According to the
Hawaii wildfire management organization, ninety-nine per cent of wildfires in
the State are caused by people.
�
Human
ignition sources include downed power lines, heat from vehicle exhaust systems,
and errant sparks from machinery or campfires.

����
The 2023 Maui wildfires highlighted these
acute dangers, igniting due to human error in areas experiencing moderate to
severe droughts and fueled by an overgrowth of invasive vegetation.
�
A post-fire analysis found that abandoned
sugar and pineapple plantations had been overgrown by vast fields of non-native
guinea grass.
�
This brush became fuel for
the wildfires, supporting their destructive expansion.
�
Responsible, proactive land management would
have effectively limited the scale of the wildfires.

����
The
legislature therefore recognizes that land management is a critical component
of wildfire risk mitigation.
�
Land
management is key to community safety because proactive efforts are essential
to protecting lives, property, and natural resources from catastrophic
wildfires.
�
The State's wildfire
prevention and preparedness plans include various land management efforts, such
as removing invasive species, maintaining defensible spaces, and supporting fuel
reduction programs.
�
Private and public
property owners are obligated to participate in these programs by their legal
duty to care.
�
However, significant
buildups of flammable vegetation in certain areas, including seasonal brush, signal
lapses in implementation.

����
The legislature therefore believes that
land management efforts must expand to combat the rising threat wildfires pose to
local communities due to climate change, the proliferation of invasive vegetation,
and human activity.

����
Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to:

����
(1)
�
Require each state agency to create and
regularly update a wildfire hazard map;

����
(2)
�
Specify that the community fuels
reduction project shall require the clearing of flammable vegetation present on
state lands for more than sixty days;

����
(3)
�
Require the department of land and
natural resources to clear certain flammable vegetation from high- and
medium-risk wildfire areas; and

����
(4)
�
Require reports.

����
SECTION
2.
�
Chapter 132, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read
as follows:

����
"
�132-
�
Wildfire hazard maps; vegetation
management; reports.
�
(a)
�
Each state agency shall create a wildfire hazard map to support
vegetation management for fire prevention that identifies high-risk,
medium-risk, and low-risk wildfire areas on all state lands under the agency's
control and management.
�
Each state
agency shall designate risk levels pursuant to the rules adopted by the
department of land and natural resources.

����
(b)
�
Each state agency shall update
its wildfire hazard map at least once every two years.

����
(c)
�
The department of land and
natural resources shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to effectuate the
purposes of this section, including to establish parameters for designating
wildfire area risk levels according to the amount of flammable vegetation and
combustible growth on the land, including seasonal brush, and pursuant to
current fire safety standards.

����
(d)
�
Each state agency shall submit
a report of its initial wildfire hazard map created pursuant to subsection (a) to
the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular
session of 2027.

����
(e)
�
Each state agency
shall
submit a report of its wildfire hazard map following each update, to the
legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of
the
legislative session immediately following the completion of each update
pursuant to subsection (b).
"

����
SECTION
3.
�
Act 303, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025,
section 4, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

����
"(a)
�
The department of land and natural resources
shall establish and implement a community fuels reduction project to reduce
hazardous wildfire fuels on state lands, particularly on lands adjacent to
communities.
�
Where feasible, the
community fuels reduction project shall:

����
(1)
�
Reduce hazardous wildfire fuels on the
landscape
, including flammable vegetation and combustible growth that has
been present for more than sixty days,
that threaten watersheds,
communities, and critical public infrastructure such as powerlines and
communication facilities;

����
(2)
�
Create and maintain effective
firebreaks along undeveloped state properties that border a developed parcel,
including but not limited to schools and residential and commercial properties,
by removing and clearing flammable vegetation and combustible growth
that
has been present for more than sixty days
from areas within thirty feet of
the developed parcel;

����
(3)
�
Reduce flammable grasses on the
landscape through projects like managed grazing; [
and
]

����
(4)
�
Remove and clear flammable
vegetation and combustible growth, including seasonal brush, that has been
present for more than sixty days on high- and medium-risk wildfire areas identified
pursuant to section 132- ; and

���
[
(4)
]

(5)
�
Provide water infrastructure for
grazing and fire suppression."

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

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

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

DLNR;
State Agencies; Vegetation Management; Wildfire Hazard Maps; Community Fuels
Reduction Project; Reports

Description:

Requires
each state agency to create and regularly update a wildfire hazard map.
�
Requires the Department of Land and Natural
Resources to adopt rules.
�
Specifies that
the Department of Land and Natural Resources shall clear brush present on state
lands for more than sixty days through the Community Fuels Reduction Project.
�
Requires the Department of Land and Natural
Resources to remove certain brush from high- and medium-risk wildfire areas on state
lands.
�
Requires reports to the
Legislature.

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