Free the Water Commission & establish a WAI policy coordinator! Support HB2690

April 26 update:

Unfortunately, the conference committee failed to pass HB2690, even after deferring the bill three times to try to come to an agreement.

But nothing keeps water protectors down for long. Because, for those of us who care about our future and want our kids to live in a world where money doesn't override the law and the most basic human right, we will never give up.

While we are extremely disappointed at the defeat of HB2690, we are also incredibly inspired. The waves of support that pushed this bill (in its many versions) almost to the finish line were unmatched.

Mahalo mahalo mahalo to every single person that supported critical water protection bills this session. Over a thousand pages of testimony were submitted in support of measures to free the Water Commission and aid in Red Hill remediation, dozens walked the halls of the capitol for several days, and hundreds of emails and phone calls were made. There is no doubt that every lawmaker in the building heard your voices.

Ola i ka wai!


APRIL 18 update:

Please take a moment now to remind the conference committee members about the importance of a secure water future that is not influenced by the politics driven by plantation-era large landowners, the military, or other special interests.

Email the conferees using this form and urge them to pass HB2690 HD2 SD1 out of conference and pass it into law.


APRIL 5 UPDATE:

Great news! HB2690 HD2 SD1 passed out of its final committees unamended—this means the bill is heading to conference committee.

Mahalo nunui to everyone that has submitted testimony, turned out, and spread the word, your efforts truly made this happen. Stay tuned for next steps!


APRIL 3 UPDATE:

Our chance to free the Water Commission lives on! You made this happen - mahalo nunui to everyone for emailing and calling Senators Dela Cruz and Rhoads and for spreading the word to your friends and networks. Let’s continue to demonstrate the tremendous support for freeing the Water Commission from undue political influence we’ve witnessed all session long - with the added benefit of establishing an independent Red Hill WAI Policy Coordinator to pursue the remediation of our contaminated ‘āina and wai.

HB2690 HD2 SD1 has been scheduled for a joint committee hearing in the Senate Ways and Means and Judiciary committees this Friday, April 5, at 10:15am in Senate conference room 211. 

Please take a moment to submit testimony in support and encourage your friends and family to do the same. Sample testimony and instructions below.

Sample testimony

Aloha Chair Dela Cruz, Chair Rhoads, Vice Chair Moriwaki, Vice Chair Gabbard, and Members of the Committees, 

My name is ___ and I am from ___. I stand in STRONG SUPPORT of the HB2690 HD2 SD1.

As our climate crisis inevitably worsens, and our water resources become ever more scarce, it is critical that our precious wai is managed as a public trust resource as mandated in our Constitution and Water Code - and protected from the legacy of corporate water hoarding and waste that continues to this day.

Unfortunately, longstanding political vulnerabilities have hampered and will continue to hamper the Water Commission in its work to implement our Water Code and uphold the public trust in our water resources. Currently, a Governor appointee - the Board of Land and Natural Resources Chairperson - chairs the Commission. Another Governor appointee, the state Attorney General, is the sole entity allowed to provide the Commission with legal advice. This has raised and continues to raise serious concerns regarding politically connected special interests influencing the Governor and his appointees, to impede the work of the Commission and its staff.

By requiring the Commission to choose its own Chair, select its own executive director, and allowing it to retain its own legal counsel, this measure will provide important layers of political insulation that the Commission will need to fulfill its critical mission in a meaningful and timely manner. These provisions, as well as a performance review process to ensure an objective, apolitical basis for staff employment decisions, would also allow Commission staff to fulfill their constitutional and statutory obligations without the fear of political retribution.   

This bill would also provide the Commission with much-needed authorities to issue emergency orders in a timely manner, and to impose meaningful but fair fines for those who would violate our Water Code or the Commission’s emergency orders. Such authorities are absolutely critical for the protection of our water, and our islands, in the face of the climate crisis.

Moreover, this measure would aid in the protection and restoration of Oʻahu’s sole source aquifer, by establishing a WAI Policy Coordinator, insulated by the Commission, to facilitate the remediation of the ‘āina and wai contaminated by the Red Hill Fuel Facility.

Accordingly, I respectfully but strongly urge the Committees to PASS HB2690 HD2 SD1.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Testimony instructions

  1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

  2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

  3. Enter “HB2690” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

  4. Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Note: Oral testimony will not be taken at this hearing.

  5. Don’t forget to spread the word!

APRIL 1 update:

It’s crunch time—this Friday is the last day for bills in the 2023-2024 Hawaiʻi Legislature to have their final “standing committee” meeting. HB2690 HD2 SD1 needs to be heard by this Friday or else it is pau for this session.

Please help keep HB2690 HD2 SD1 alive, and help put an end to the generations-long control of our public trust water resources by powerful corporate and military interests. Call or email Senate Ways and Means Chair Donovan Dela Cruz and Judiciary Chair Karl Rhoads, and ask that they schedule this bill for a joint committee hearing by the “Decking Deadline.” Sample script below.

Call: Senator Rhoads, (808)586-6130; Senator Dela Cruz, (808)586-6090
Email: senrhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov, sendelacruz@capitol.hawai.gov 
Email subject: Please hear HB2690 HD2 SD1

Aloha Chair Dela Cruz and Chair Rhoads,

My name is ____ and I am from ____. I am writing to respectfully but strongly urge you to hold a hearing on HB2690 HD2 SD1, Relating to Water, by Friday’s Decking deadline. Water has been and will always be our most precious resource, and even more so in our ever-worsening climate crisis. We must therefore do everything we can to uphold the public trust in its protection, conservation, and fair allocation. 

This measure may be one of the most important and historic pieces of legislation for the future water security and well-being of our islands. Please, help keep this bill alive and ensure its passage this legislative session, if not for our present generations, then for those that will follow us long after we are gone.

Mahalo nui for your consideration of this request.  


March 19 update:

BIG NEWS! The transformative provisions of SB3327 SD1 HD1, the “Free the Water Commission” bill,  have been (mostly) proposed for inclusion in proposed amendments to HB2690 HD2, the WAI policy coordinator measure intended to help implement the recommendations of the Water Alliance Initiative. 

Mahalo nui to all who called and emailed Representative David Tarnas, the Chair of the House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee, to ask that he schedule a hearing for SB3327 SD1 HD1. Unfortunately, without a hearing scheduled, SB3327 SD1 HD1 is now likely dead, despite voluminous and overwhelming support for the measure in all of its prior hearings.    

However, our efforts may not have been in vain! In a just-released proposed draft, “HB2690 HD2 SD1 Proposed” will have a hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, March 20 at 1:15pm in the Senate Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment Committees. Please take a moment to submit testimony in support of this proposed draft ASAP! 

Sample testimony

Aloha Chair Inouye, Chair Gabbard, Vice Chair Elefante, Vice Chair Richards, and Members of the Committees, 

My name is ___ and I am from ___. I stand in STRONG SUPPORT of the PROPOSED SD1 to HB2690 HD2. 

For decades, the state has failed to address longstanding structural issues that have left the Water Commission vulnerable to undue political influence, and unable to take emergency action or enforce the water code against deep-pocket and politically powerful interests. 

As we have seen, these structural weaknesses have stymied the Commission’s ability to do anything to meaningfully address the Red Hill water crisis - including the Navy’s ongoing, years-long noncompliance with its water use permits, and the waste of over 3 billion gallons of “essentially drinkable” water and counting from the Red Hill shaft.  

Most recently, political influence over the Water Commission and its staff led to the highly questionable, still-unexplained “reassignment” of the former water deputy who, during his tenure, had successfully implemented the water code to a far greater extent than any of his predecessors. Notably, this “reassignment” occurred after misleading statements were made to the Governor’s administration, by an official of a wealthy and politically connected corporation recently fined by the Commission for its illegal water diversions.

The proposed SD1 of this measure would address these weaknesses, originally identified 30 years ago. First, it would allow the Commission members to choose their own Chairperson, and ensure that objective standards - rather than arbitrary and unilateral decisionmaking by the Commission Chair - are used to evaluate the work of Commission staff. Second, the Commission would be authorized to issue meaningful fines - subject to the careful, case-by-case consideration of a number of mitigating and aggravating factors - that may be the only means to hold recalcitrant, deep-pocket water code violators accountable. Finally, the proposed SD1 would allow the Commission to more expediently address water emergencies, such as those threatened by the U.S. Navy, rather than undergo the months- or years-long process currently required under statute.

To strengthen this measure, I respectfully ask that the Proposed SD1 be further amended to 1) place the WAI Policy Coordinator and associated staff under the Water Commission, and NOT the politically appointed Board of Land and Natural Resources Chairperson; and 2) allow the Commission to retain its own independent legal counsel, as proposed under SB3327 SD1. 

Accordingly, I respectfully but strongly urge the Committee to ADOPT the Proposed SD1 for HB2690 HD2, with the above-noted amendments.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Testimony instructions

  1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

  2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

  3. Enter “HB2690” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

  4. Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

  5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).


MARCH 17 UPDATE:

Please take a moment to help free the Water Commission from the decades of political interference that has left our islands in a state of increasing water insecurity. SB3327 SD1 HD1, which cleared the Water and Land Committees in both the Senate and House, as well as the Senate Judiciary, Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, and Ways and Means Committees, needs to be scheduled for its next hearing this week by House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee Chair David Tarnas. If it is not heard, it will die – and we may lose our best chance to finally insulate the Water Commission from the influence of developers and legacy water hoarders.

Please contact Rep. Tarnas, at 808-586-8510 and/or via e-mail at reptarnas@capitol.hawaii.gov, to urge him to schedule SB3327 SD1 HD1 in the Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee. Below is a sample message: 

Aloha Representative Tarnas, 

My name is ____ and I am from ____. I am writing/calling you today to kindly urge you to schedule SB3327 SD1 HD1 in your Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee this week. This bill is critical to securing a just and resilient future for Hawaiʻi’s freshwater resources, by addressing political vulnerabilities that have allowed and could continue to allow powerful corporate interests to influence the crucially important work of the Water Commission.

Mahalo nui for your time,

[Your name]

MARCH 13 UPDATE:

SB3327 SD1 was passed out of the House Water and Land Committee on Tuesday with amendments with 177+ in written testimonies in support. The bill now needs to be heard in the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs (Chaired by Representative Tarnas) and Finance (Chaired by Representative Yamashita) Committees.

Mahalo nui to those who submitted testimony!

March 9 update:

SB3327 SD1, the “Free the Water Commission” bill will be heard in the House Water and Land Committee on Tuesday, March 12, 9am in House conference room 430. 

This bill ensures that the Water Commission and its staff can focus on implementing the Water Code and uphold the public trust doctrine, without fear of political interference or retribution. You can learn more about the bill and how we got here below. 

Sample testimony:

Aloha Chair Ichiyama, Vice Chair Poepoe, and Members of the Committee,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY SUPPORT SB3327 SD1, to secure a just and resilient future for our water resources and by extension, our islands as a whole.

As our climate crisis inevitably worsens, and our water resources become ever more scarce, it is critical that our precious wai is managed as a public trust resource, as envisioned in our Constitution and Water Code - and protected from the legacy of corporate water hoarding and waste that continues to this day.

Unfortunately, longstanding political vulnerabilities have hampered and will continue to hamper the Water Commission in its work to implement our Water Code and uphold the public trust in our water resources. Currently, a Governor appointee - the Board of Land and Natural Resources Chairperson - chairs the Commission. Another Governor appointee, the state Attorney General, is the sole entity allowed to provide the Commission with legal advice. This has raised and continues to raise serious concerns regarding politically connected special interests influencing the Governor and his appointees, to impede the work of the Commission and its staff.

By requiring the Commission to choose its own Chair, select its own executive director, and allowing it to retain its own legal counsel, this measure will provide important layers of political insulation that the Commission will need to fulfill its critical mission in a meaningful and timely manner. These provisions, as well as a performance review process to ensure an objective, apolitical basis for staff employment decisions, would also allow Commission staff to fulfill their constitutional and statutory obligations without the fear of political retribution.   

Accordingly, I respectfully urge the Committee to PASS this measure. Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify. 


March 1 update:

The Senate Ways and Means and Judiciary Committees passed SB3327 SD1 UNAMENDED! This was the bill’s final hearing in the Senate and it will now move to the House.


FEBRUARY 28 UPDATE:

Great news!! The Senate Ways and Means and Judiciary Committees have scheduled the final Senate committee hearing for SB3327 SD1, the bill that would finally - after four decades - ensure that the Water Commission and its staff can focus on implementing the Water Code and uphold the public trust doctrine, without fear of political interference or retribution. SB3327 SD1 will be heard this Friday, March 1 at 10:31am  in the Senate Ways and Means and Judiciary Committees.

Please submit your written testimony today! With just a few minutes of your time, you can help give our Water Commission the tools and independence it needs to uphold the public interest in our precious wai, and protect our public trust water from corporate water hoarding and waste. 

Scroll down for more info about what this bill does.

Sample testimony

Aloha Chair Dela Cruz, Chair Rhoads, Vice Chair Moriwaki, Vice Chair Gabbard, and Members of the Committees,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY SUPPORT SB3327 SD1, to secure a just and resilient future for our water resources and by extension, our islands as a whole.

As our climate crisis inevitably worsens, and our water resources become ever more scarce, it is critical that our precious wai is managed as a public trust resource, as envisioned in our Constitution and Water Code - and protected from the legacy of corporate water hoarding and waste that continues to this day.

Unfortunately, longstanding political vulnerabilities have hampered and will continue to hamper the Water Commission in its work to implement our Water Code and uphold the public trust in our water resources. Currently, a Governor appointee - the Board of Land and Natural Resources Chairperson - chairs the Commission. Another Governor appointee, the state Attorney General, is the sole entity allowed to provide the Commission with legal advice. This has raised and continues to raise serious concerns regarding politically connected special interests influencing the Governor and his appointees, to impede the work of the Commission and its staff.

By requiring the Commission to choose its own Chair, select its own executive director, and allowing it to retain its own legal counsel, this measure will provide important layers of political insulation that the Commission will need to fulfill its critical mission in a meaningful and timely manner. These provisions, as well as a performance review process to ensure an objective, apolitical basis for staff employment decisions, would also allow Commission staff to fulfill their constitutional and statutory obligations without the fear of political retribution.   

Accordingly, I respectfully urge the Committees to PASS this measure. Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify. 

Testimony instructions:

  1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

  2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

  3. Enter "SB3327" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

  4. Input your information and your written testimony Note: Oral testimony will not be accepted at this hearing.


February 9 updates:

The Senate Committees on Water and Land and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs both unanimously passed SB3327 with minor amendments after 125+ testimonies in support. You can watch the hearing here. The bill now needs to be heard in the Senate Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary.


The August fires, and the resulting tragic loss of life, revealed many weaknesses in Hawaiʻi’s fire suppression, natural resource management, and emergency response systems. They also revealed the extent to which special interests and their government enablers may be willing to exploit a tragedy for corporate gain. This week, on Wednesday, February 7, we have one critically important water bill that will help to empower the Water Commission to not only deal expeditiously with water emergencies and water code violators, but also ensure its staff are able to focus on implementing the Water Code and public trust doctrine without fear of political retribution. More details and sample testimony below.

SB3327: Free the Water Commission

SB3327 would allow the Water Commission to hold water code violators accountable with meaningful fines, and take emergency and timely action during water shortages caused by prolonged droughts, aquifer contamination, rising chloride levels, or other unforeseen events. Moreover, it would protect Water Commission members and staff from the influence of opportunistic and politically connected corporate interests, allowing them to implement the state Water Code in the public’s interest, and without fear of political retribution.

Why this bill is important: 

First, this bill would enable the Commission on Water Resource Management to better ensure public needs are prioritized during a water emergency, such as the one that the Red Hill crisis continues to threaten. Currently, the Water Commission must undergo time consuming, months-long planning and rulemaking processes and exhaust its water shortage authorities before taking action to preserve fresh drinking water supplies in a water emergency. This bill would allow the Water Commission to instead take immediate action to protect our water and priority water needs in the event of water emergencies, in real time.

Second, this bill would authorize the Water Commission to impose meaningful fines against those who could otherwise over pump our aquifers and drain our streams dry with impunity – notwithstanding the law or the needs of the community. The current $5,000 daily fine the Commission is authorized to levy is wholly insufficient to hold multinational corporations - or the Department of Defense - accountable if and when their water code violations impact priority public needs, including for affordable housing. Without the increased fines authorized under this measure, millions of gallons of water per day could be illegally monopolized by deep pocket entities for a fraction of a cent per gallon in penalties, harming our precious water resources, and the houses, schools, farms, small businesses, and others that rely on them.

Finally, this bill would address political vulnerabilities that could allow powerful corporate interests to unduly influence the important work of the Water Commission. Currently, the Commission’s Chair is a member of the Governor’s cabinet, as is its legal counsel, the Attorney General. Both individuals have considerable power over the Water Commission and its staff, and both answer directly to the Governor. Accordingly, powerful interests who have the Governor’s ear could substantially interfere with the Commission’s implementation of the Water Code, and the Public Trust Doctrine.

(As we saw in the aftermath of the Lahaina fires, the “reassignment” of water deputy Kaleo Manuel raised serious concerns regarding politically powerful corporate water hoarders influencing the Governor’s administration, to retaliate against a deputy who had made historic progress in the implementation of the Water Code.) 

This bill would accordingly allow Commission members to decide amongst themselves who among their volunteers should serve as their Chair, and would further allow the entire Commission to choose an “executive director” as the lead Commission staff person. Annual performance reviews for the executive director would ensure that any employment decisions are based on a documented and objective assessment of their performance, rather than political opportunism or retribution. Finally, the Commission would be able to hire their own legal counsel, rather than rely on the Governor-serving Attorney General.

Sample testimony

Aloha Chair Wakai, Chair Inouye, Vice Chair Elefante, and Members of the Committees,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY SUPPORT SB3327, in order to enable the Water Commission to hold water code violators accountable; take timely, emergency action during water shortages; and allow Commission staff to implement the state Water Code, without fear of political retribution.

The uniqueness of Hawaiʻi’s freshwater landscape puts our islands at a higher risk of water shortages and emergencies. Coupled with the growing impacts of the climate crisis, our agencies must have the tools they need to respond to water crises and protect our water and priority water uses, including for affordable housing, in a timely manner. 

This measure would provide the Water Commission with two such tools. First, it would allow the Water Commission to take emergency action in the event of a water shortage, and prioritize the most pressing public needs, without undergoing a months- or possibly years-long process as currently required under statute. Second, it would allow the Commission to impose much more meaningful fines for water code violations, based on a careful assessment of the circumstances of each case; such authority is critical to protecting the public interest from deep pocket water code violators who could easily shrug off the Commission’s current maximum daily fine.   

In addition to the above authorities, this bill would also address political vulnerabilities that may allow powerful corporate interests to unduly interfere with the work of the Commission and its staff. Currently, a Governor appointee - the Board of Land and Natural Resources Chairperson - chairs the Water Commission and dictates its agenda. In addition, the Attorney General, who is also appointed by the Governor, is the sole provider of legal advice to the Water Commission. Both of these appointees have considerable power over the Water Commission and its staff. Accordingly, those with influence over the Governor, including corporate water hoarders, could substantially interfere with the work of the Commission, through his political appointees.

By requiring the Commission to choose its own Chair, select its own executive director, and retain its own legal counsel, this measure will provide important layers of political insulation and thereby help to rebuild public confidence in the work of the Commission. These provisions, as well as a performance review process to ensure an objective, apolitical basis for staff employment decisions, would also allow Commission staff to fulfill their constitutional and statutory obligations without fear of political retribution.   

Accordingly, I respectfully urge the Committees to PASS this measure. Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify. 

Testimony instructions

  1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

  2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

  3. Enter "SB3327" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

  4. Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

  5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)

ACT NOW: Water security and disaster resilience down to the wire

This Friday is the last day for bills in the 2023-2024 Hawaiʻi Legislature to have their final “standing committee” meeting. Accordingly, it is crunch time for bills good and bad that have not yet met this pressing deadline. Of note:

Red Hill, Water Security, and Our Public Trust:

HB2690 HD2 SD1 is the last remaining measure that recognizes the decades-old problem of political interference in the implementation of our Water Code.

Originally drafted as a well-meaning but slightly myopic proposal to address the consequences of political inhibition surrounding the Red Hill Facility, HB2690 HD2 SD1 has now been amended to much more proactively insulate the Hawaiʻi Commission on Water Resource Management, as well as a Red Hill “WAI Policy Coordinator,” from undue political influence. 

This bill would prevent the Governor of Hawaiʻi from exercising almost unilateral control over the Water Commission’s work, by requiring the Chair of the Commission to be selected by its members instead of by the Governor, and allowing the Commission to retain its own attorney rather than relying on the Governor’s Attorney General. 

A WAI Policy Coordinator, tasked with the politically charged kuleana of seeking Navy accountability and the full remediation of Oʻahu’s sole source aquifer, would also be sheltered under this Commission’s executive director, who would be transparently selected and evaluated by the entire Commission (rather than hired and potentially fired by a single Chair’s behind-the-scenes decision). 

Notably, the nominating committee tasked with nominating replacement Water Commissioners for the Governor’s consideration would also be amended, to include a representative of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) - a long-due addition, given OHA beneficiaries’ unique Native Hawaiian rights and deep cultural connections to our islands’ precious wai.  

Despite garnering overwhelming and nearly unanimous support in hundreds of testimonies submitted this session, a similar measure, SB3327, failed to meet a previous deadline for a hearing before the House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee. That bill was passed by the Senate Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, who will now need to hear HB2690 HD2 SD1 by this Friday. 

Please help keep HB2690 HD2 SD1 alive, and help put an end to the generations-long control of our public trust water resources by powerful corporate and military interests. Call or email Senate Ways and Means Chair Donovan Dela Cruz and Judiciary Chair Karl Rhoads, and ask that they schedule this bill for a joint committee hearing by the “Decking Deadline.” Sample script below.

Call: Senator Rhoads, (808)586-6130; Senator Dela Cruz, (808)586-6090
Email: senrhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov, sendelacruz@capitol.hawai.gov 
Email subject: Please hear HB2690 HD2 SD1

Aloha Chair Dela Cruz and Chair Rhoads,

My name is ____ and I am from ____. I am writing to respectfully but strongly urge you to hold a hearing on HB2690 HD2 SD1, Relating to Water, by Friday’s Decking deadline. Water has been and will always be our most precious resource, and even more so in our ever-worsening climate crisis. We must therefore do everything we can to uphold the public trust in its protection, conservation, and fair allocation. 

This measure may be one of the most important and historic pieces of legislation for the future water security and well-being of our islands. Please, help keep this bill alive and ensure its passage this legislative session, if not for our present generations, then for those that will follow us long after we are gone.

Mahalo nui for your consideration of this request.  

Invasive Species

SB3237 SD2 HD1 and HB2758 HD2 SD1, the omnibus invasive species bills that would finally fill decades-old gaps in our islands’ biosecurity framework, passed through all but the last of their committees. However, despite overwhelming support from farmers, doctors, cultural practitioners, educators, ecologists, and everyday folks, both bills are currently stalled and will die if not scheduled for a hearing this week.

Life as we know it in Hawaiʻi is threatened by invasive pests like little fire ants, coconut rhinoceros beetles, and others. Please take a moment to help protect our islands from further destruction by invasive species by contacting the chairs of the House Finance Committee and the Senate Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, urging them to hear these critical invasive species bills by this Friday. 

SB3237 SD2 HD1

Call: Representative Yamashita, (808)586-6200
Email: repyamashita@capitol.hawaii.gov
Email subject: Please hear SB3237 SD2 HD1

Aloha Chair Yamashita, 

My name is ____ and I am from ____. I am writing to respectfully but strongly urge you to hold a hearing on SB3237 SD2 HD1, Relating to Agriculture, by Friday’s Decking deadline. Time is of the essence when it comes to slowing the further spread of invasive species. The financial, human, and environmental costs of inaction in the face of our current and future invasive species crises will only increase exponentially and be felt for generations, if we do not adopt the long-needed quarantine, inspection, licensing, pest designation, and importation protections and controls embodied in this measure.  

This measure is critical to giving the Department of Agriculture the tools and resources it needs to control and eradicate invasive pest species that may impact every aspect of life here in Hawaiʻi. 

Mahalo nui for your consideration of this request.  

HB2758 HD2 SD1

Call: Senator Dela Cruz, (808)586-6090; Senator Rhoads, (808)586-6130 
Email: sendelacruz@capitol.hawaii.gov, senrhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov
Email subject: Please hear HB2758 HD2 SD1

Aloha Chair Dela Cruz and Chair Rhoads, 

My name is ____ and I am from ____. I am writing to respectfully but strongly urge you to hold a hearing on HB2758 HD2 SD1, Relating to Agriculture, by Friday’s Decking deadline. Time is of the essence when it comes to slowing the further spread of invasive species. The financial, human, and environmental costs of inaction in the face of our current and future invasive species crises will only increase exponentially and be felt for generations, if we do not adopt the long-needed quarantine, inspection, licensing, pest designation, and importation protections and controls embodied in this measure.  

This measure is critical to giving the Department of Agriculture the tools and resources it needs to control and eradicate invasive pest species that may impact every aspect of life here in Hawaiʻi. 

Mahalo nui for your consideration of this request.  

Good Bills that Need Testimony: Loko Iʻa, Seabed Mining, and Housing Relief

We do have some good news regarding important bills that did get scheduled for their final hearing this week. Please consider also submitting testimony in support of these measures -  read on below (testimony instructions are also at the bottom of this email):

Loko I‘a Restocking Support - SB2329 SD1 HD1 has a hearing scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, at 2:30 p.m. before the House Finance Committee. This measure would support our islands’ food security, cultural integrity, ecological health, and overall resilience by funding programs for the production of puaʻama (juvenile mullet), to benefit our loko iʻa (Hawaiian fishpond) practitioners. 

Sample testimony:

My name is _____, a resident of ____, and I strongly support SB2329 SD1 HD1.

This bill will provide critical support for loko iʻa practitioners, and significantly enhance their efforts to build our islands’ food security, perpetuate cultural values and practices, restore our nearshore ecosystems, and ensure our islands’ resilience for generations to come. Please pass this measure as an important, smart investment in the future of our Hawaiʻi nei.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.  

Seabed Mining Ban - SB2575 HD1 has a hearing scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, at 4 p.m. before the House Finance Committee. Please consider supporting this measure to prevent the destruction of our nearshore ecosystems, by preemptively banning seabed mining in Hawaiʻi’s marine waters.  

Sample testimony: 

My name is _____, a resident of ____, and I strongly support SB2575 HD1.

This measure will make clear that the extractive exploitation of our ocean - to the detriment of rare, highly sensitive, and still-unexplored ecosystems and species - is off the table for corporate speculators and profit-driven interests. We simply cannot risk the permanent loss of some of our islands' most unique and intrinsically invaluable natural and native ecosystems for short-term, short-sighted, and unsustainable financial gain. Please pass this measure so that we can head off the temptation for deep sea mining interests to establish a foothold in our Hawaiʻi nei, and ensure our public trust ocean resources remain intact for present and future generations.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Housing Relief - SB2919 SD2 HD1 also has a hearing scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, at 4 p.m. before the House Finance Committee. This measure would close a loophole preventing counties from reserving their limited housing supply for long-term residential uses, rather than for short-term vacation rentals. Please consider supporting this proposal to allow counties to directly address their residents’ housing needs, and head off a housing crisis that has been increasingly used to attack environmental and cultural protections.

Sample testimony: 

My name is _____, a resident of ____, and I strongly support SB2919 SD2 HD1.

Our housing crisis has been exploited time and again to attack our environmental and cultural protections, in many cases without any direct benefit to our affordable housing supply. In contrast, this measure will empower counties to provide direct housing relief to their residents, and mitigate the impacts of real estate speculation on housing costs, by allowing counties to decide whether and how their housing units may be used for short-term vacation rentals instead of for long-term housing. Please pass this measure as a viable strategy to boost our long-term residential housing supply, without dismantling legal protections critical to the resilience and well-being of our islands and people.  

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Testimony instructions

  1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

  2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

  3. Enter ”SB2329/2575/2919” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

  4. Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

  5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

Please encourage your friends, family, and networks to do the same!

Crossover Check-in

Yesterday was first crossover, marking the midway point of the 2024 Legislative Session! Thanks to the consistent engagement and advocacy of our members and supporters, we have been able to defeat many misguided measures, and have made remarkable progress on others. Read on for a summary of highlights from the legislature thus far:

Red Hill Bills

Still alive is HB2690 HD2, which would establish a WAI Policy Coordinator, additional staff positions to assist the coordinator, and a Red Hill remediation special fund. We have supported this bill with amendments to better protect the Policy Coordinator’s work from being influenced or undermined by political pressure in the years and decades it will take to fully remediate our ʻāina and wai.

Also alive is HB1896 HD1, which would expand the ban on PFAS-containing products passed via Act 152 in 2022. This bill would prohibit the manufacture, sale, or distribution of food packaging, food serviceware, and cosmetic and personal care products containing PFAS “forever chemicals” beginning on January 1, 2027. A substantially similar bill, SB504 SD1 HD3, died at the last minute during conference committee last year - fingers crossed that we can get this year’s proposal past the finish line this year!

Unfortunately, most of the other Red Hill-related bills have failed to meet their legislative deadlines. 

Wai Bills

SB3327 SD1 is a transformative measure that would finally implement decades-old recommendations to free the Water Commission from special interest political influence in the management of our precious wai. This bill would authorize the Water Commission to choose its own Chair (currently selected by the Governor) and hire independent legal counsel (rather than rely on the Governor's Attorney General). It would also clarify that employment decisions over the Commission’s lead staff person should be made by the Commission and not the Chair alone, based on objective and transparent criteria. It would further give the Commission the authority to enforce its laws and orders with meaningful penalties, and streamline its authority to respond to water emergencies such as those threatened by Red Hill or the Lāhainā fires (read more about SB3327 SD1 at the Sierra Club's Capitol Watch website). 

With overwhelming community support, including and particularly from the Maui Komohana community, SB3327 SD1 was heard and passed by the Senate Water and Land, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees. Stay tuned as we continue to push this measure through the House of Representatives.

Also still in play is HB1544 HD1, a bill that would give the Water Commission the authority to levy meaningful fines against recalcitrant and deep-pocket water code violators. A substantially similar bill was vetoed by Governor Josh Green last year, despite the urging of over three dozen community organizations and countless individuals to let it pass into law. According to Water Commission staff, Governor Green’s veto justification last year appeared to be based on testimony from the Land Use Research Foundation, which misleadingly suggested that affordable housing would somehow be impacted by county water departments’ immediate implementation of the increased fines. Legislators fortunately so far have seen past the exploitative fearmongering around our housing challenges by opponents of this measure, and it has passed over to the Senate.

Invasive Species

It appears that our legislators have heard the calls from their constituents for meaningful and proactive action to control and eradicate invasive pests, like the little fire ant and coconut rhinoceros beetle, that could permanently impact life on these islands. Thanks in large part to the voluminous and clear testimonies from the community, HB2758 HD2, the omnibus biosecurity bill, has sailed through its House Committee hearings, despite protests by the Department of Agriculture. SB3237 SD1, in a last minute hearing by the Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, was also heard and passed on March 1st. Continued community support will be critical to keeping these bills moving through the Senate and House, respectively.

Clean Elections

SB2381 SD2, a “clean elections” bill that would offer public campaign funding for candidates for office, has already crossed over from the Senate to the House. This is another potentially transformative measure that would free both incumbents and challengers from having to solicit campaign contributions from deep-pocket special interests, and instead spend their time and energy focused on the needs and interests of their constituents - including those who care deeply about protecting our environmental and cultural integrity for current and future generations. 

Bad Bills Countered/Stopped

As usual, we have seen a number of measures that would have resulted in long-term sacrifices of our environmental and cultural integrity, public health, food security, and quality of life, for questionable public benefit. Fortunately, thanks in large part to community advocates and thoughtful decisionmakers, many of these bills have been stopped or amended to mitigate their potential harmful impacts. These include:

Land Use Commission

SB2175 - this measure would have stripped the Land Use Commission of its ability to protect our food security, cultural practices, natural resources, affordable housing opportunities, and other important public interests in land use district changes (e.g., agricultural to urban) of up to 100 acres at a time. Water and Land Chair Lorraine Inouye, hearing the concerns of dozens of testifiers, fortunately deferred this measure after its first hearing.

SB2204 SD1 - this measure would have allowed counties to forego “technical studies” - including environmental review - in petitioning the Land Use Commission for land use district boundary changes involving potentially thousands of acres at a time. Water and Land Chair Lorraine Inouye, responding to community concerns, amended this bill to ensure that counties are not excused from submitting “archaeological, cultural, and biological survey” studies as part of their district boundary amendment petitions for changes to the agricultural and conservation districts. While this was a positive amendment, the bill language still raised the risk of potentially incomplete petitions that would prevent the LUC from fulfilling its statutory and constitutional responsibilities. Fortunately, the bill died after failing to receive a hearing by the Judiciary Committee.

Environmental Review

SB3047 SD1 would have created a new category of actions exempted from the environmental review requirements of our environmental review law, namely, certain “affordable” housing projects in the urban districts. Unlike the current and carefully balanced regulatory exemption for certain affordable housing projects, this measure would have completely exempted all such projects from any environmental review, even if they raised the potential for severe ecological, cultural, public health, or economic impacts. Moreover, the public would not be given any notice regarding the exemption of these projects from environmental review, unlike under the current regulatory requirements. Fortunately, SB3047 SD1 died after not receiving a hearing in the Ways and Means Committee. Unfortunately, its companion, HB2538 HD1, has made it to crossover. Stay tuned for our next chance to stop HB2538 HD1.

Threatened and Native Species

HB2472 and SB3161 would have rolled back existing protections for threatened species, lowering the standard for protective measures and even giving the Department of Land and Natural Resources the ability to override the judgment and expertise of the Endangered Species Recovery Committee, among other provisions. Fortunately, both measures were deferred after their first hearing.

Energy and Resiliency

As originally proposed, SB2994 and SB2335 would have prevented our building codes from being updated for the better part of a decade, locking in building standards that do not respond to the rapidly changing realities of our climate crisis, and thereby jeopardizing human health and safety as well as our islands’ climate resiliency, and even foreclosing critical federal funding opportunities that are contingent on up-to-date codes. SB2335 would have further given developer interest groups more seats on the State Building Code Council, and required a “cost benefit analysis” before any updates are made to the state building code. SB2335 was killed by the Government Operations committee, and SB2994 was amended in its SD1 to ensure that energy code updates still occurred on the current schedule, mitigating concerns regarding the climate resiliency of new buildings. HB2089 HD1, a very similar bill to SB2994, was also amended to ensure that the energy code remains updated on the current schedule - read more about the remaining concerns with this bill below.

Bad Bills Still Alive

Unfortunately, there are still a small handful of bills that raise serious concerns regarding their impact to our environmental and cultural integrity. These include: 

HB2358 HD1, the companion to SB3047 SD1 described above, which would completely exempt certain “affordable” housing projects from any of the requirements under our environmental review law.

SB2677 SD1, which would roll back our general requirement that new single-family residential units be equipped with solar hot water heaters. As currently drafted, the bill would allow for variances to be issued for gas-powered heaters for units in a "low or moderate income" district, or in a region prone to wildfires. Given the health impacts of gas appliances, and the ever-increasing costs of fossil fuels, this bill would saddle future tenants of new residential developments with both the costs and health impacts of gas water heaters while also walking back Hawaiʻi’s commitments to a carbon negative future.   

HB2089 HD1, a similar bill to SB2994 SD1, would delay the adoption of the International Building Code and International Residential Code into the State Building Code for nearly a decade at a time (current law requires these codes, along with the International Energy Code, to be adopted within two years of their publication). This would result in buildings that do not reflect the latest technological, planning, and construction standards developed in response to climate threats such as wildfires, hurricanes, and floods. Given what we know about the impending impacts of the climate crisis, this measure may render our residents and communities more vulnerable to climate impacts, in an era when we should be doing all we can to protect ourselves from an increasingly unstable environment. 

These are just some of the many, many bills that we have tracked and testified on this legislative session. As you can see, we cannot do this work alone - and in many cases, engagement and advocacy from readers like you have made all the difference in what has been accomplished thus far. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who have responded to our action alerts, shared bills of concern, and otherwise done your part to engage with the legislature this year!