Report Title:

Lesser Impact Renewable Energy Facility; Permitted Use; Agricultural and Conservation Districts

Description:

Designates lesser impact renewable energy facilities as permitted uses in state agricultural and conservation districts.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2669
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY.

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

     SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to expand the permitted uses within agricultural and conservation districts to include certain renewable energy facilities that have relatively low impact.

     This Act adds solar energy facilities as a permitted use in the agricultural district where wind energy facilities and biofuel production facilities are permitted uses.

     This Act also includes lesser impact renewable energy facilities as permitted uses in the conservation district.  "Lesser impact renewable energy facilities" do not include waste-to-energy or biomass conversion facilities.

     This Act is not intended to affect existing provisions of chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes, concerning geothermal subzones.  The legislature intends that geothermal subzones may continue to be established and maintained in all land use districts as provided under sections 205-5.1, 205-5.2, and 205.5.3, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     SECTION 2.  Section 183C-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

     "(d)  The department shall establish zones within the conservation district, which shall be restricted to certain uses.  The department, by rules, may specify the land uses permitted therein which may include, but are not limited to, farming, flower gardening, operation of nurseries or orchards, growth of commercial timber, grazing, recreational or hunting pursuits, lesser impact renewable energy facilities as defined under section 205-2(e), or residential use.  The rules may control the extent, manner, and times of the uses, and may specifically prohibit unlimited cutting of forest growth, soil mining, or other activities detrimental to good conservation practices."

     SECTION 3.  Section 205-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:

     "(d)  Agricultural districts shall include:

     (1)  Activities or uses as characterized by the cultivation of crops, crops for bioenergy, orchards, forage, and forestry;

     (2)  Farming activities or uses related to animal husbandry, and game and fish propagation;

     (3)  Aquaculture, which means the production of aquatic plant and animal life within ponds and other bodies of water;

     (4)  Wind generated energy production for public, private, and commercial use;

     (5)  Biofuel production as described in section 205‑4.5(a)(15) for public, private, and commercial use;

     (6)  Bona fide agricultural services and uses that support the agricultural activities of the fee or leasehold owner of the property and accessory to any of the above activities, whether or not conducted on the same premises as the agricultural activities to which they are accessory, including but not limited to farm dwellings as defined in section 205-4.5(a)(4), employee housing, farm buildings, mills, storage facilities, processing facilities, vehicle and equipment storage areas, roadside stands for the sale of products grown on the premises, and plantation community subdivisions as defined in section 205‑4.5(a)(12);

     (7)  Wind machines and wind farms;

(8) Solar energy facilities that produce and transmit electrical energy from insolation;

    [(8)] (9)  Small-scale meteorological, air quality, noise, and other scientific and environmental data collection and monitoring facilities occupying less than one‑half acre of land; provided that these facilities shall not be used as or equipped for use as living quarters or dwellings;

    [(9)] (10)  Agricultural parks;

   [(10)] (11)  Agricultural tourism conducted on a working farm, or a farming operation as defined in section 165‑2, for the enjoyment, education, or involvement of visitors; provided that the agricultural tourism activity is accessory and secondary to the principal agricultural use and does not interfere with surrounding farm operations; and provided further that this paragraph shall apply only to a county that has adopted ordinances regulating agricultural tourism under section 205-5; and

   [(11)] (12)  Open area recreational facilities.

Agricultural districts shall not include golf courses and golf driving ranges, except as provided in section 205-4.5(d).  Agricultural districts include areas that are not used for, or that are not suited to, agricultural and ancillary activities by reason of topography, soils, and other related characteristics.

     (e)  Conservation districts shall include areas necessary for [protecting]:

(1) Protecting watersheds and water sources; [preserving]

(2) Preserving scenic and historic areas; [providing]

(3) Providing park lands, wilderness, and beach reserves; [conserving]

(4) Conserving indigenous or endemic plants, fish, and wildlife, including those which are threatened or endangered; [preventing]

(5) Preventing floods and soil erosion; [forestry; open]

(6) Forestry;

(7) Open space areas whose existing openness, natural condition, or present state of use, if retained, would enhance the present or potential value of abutting or surrounding communities, or would maintain or enhance the conservation of natural or scenic resources; [areas]

(8) Areas of value for recreational purposes; [other]

(9) Other related activities; and [other]

(10) Other permitted uses not detrimental to a multiple use conservation concept.

Conservation districts also may include lesser impact renewable energy facilities.  For the purposes of this section, "lesser impact renewable energy facilities" means facilities that produce electrical energy from insolation, wind, hydropower, ocean thermal conversion, or ocean wave movement."

     SECTION 4.  Section 205-4.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a)  Within the agricultural district, all lands with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A or B shall be restricted to the following permitted uses:

     (1)  Cultivation of crops, including but not limited to crops for bioenergy, flowers, vegetables, foliage, fruits, forage, and timber;

     (2)  Game and fish propagation;

     (3)  Raising of livestock, including but not limited to poultry, bees, fish, or other animal or aquatic life that are propagated for economic or personal use;

     (4)  Farm dwellings, employee housing, farm buildings, or activities or uses related to farming and animal husbandry.  "Farm dwelling", as used in this paragraph, means a single-family dwelling located on and used in connection with a farm, including clusters of single-family farm dwellings permitted within agricultural parks developed by the State, or where agricultural activity provides income to the family occupying the dwelling;

     (5)  Public institutions and buildings that are necessary for agricultural practices;

     (6)  Public and private open area types of recreational uses, including day camps, picnic grounds, parks, and riding stables, but not including dragstrips, airports, drive-in theaters, golf courses, golf driving ranges, country clubs, and overnight camps;

     (7)  Public, private, and quasi-public utility lines and roadways, transformer stations, communications equipment buildings, solid waste transfer stations, major water storage tanks, and appurtenant small buildings such as booster pumping stations, but not including offices or yards for equipment, material, vehicle storage, repair or maintenance, treatment plants, corporation yards, or other similar structures;

     (8)  Retention, restoration, rehabilitation, or improvement of buildings or sites of historic or scenic interest;

     (9)  Roadside stands for the sale of agricultural products grown on the premises;

    (10)  Buildings and uses, including but not limited to mills, storage, and processing facilities, maintenance facilities, and vehicle and equipment storage areas that are normally considered directly accessory to the above mentioned uses and are permitted under section 205‑2(d);

(11) Agricultural parks;

(12) Plantation community subdivisions, which as used in this paragraph means a subdivision or cluster of employee housing, community buildings, and acreage established on land currently or formerly owned, leased, or operated by a sugar or pineapple plantation and in residential use by employees or former employees of the plantation; provided that the employees or former employees shall have a property interest in the land;

(13) Agricultural tourism conducted on a working farm, or a farming operation as defined in section 165-2, for the enjoyment, education, or involvement of visitors; provided that the agricultural tourism activity is accessory and secondary to the principal agricultural use and does not interfere with surrounding farm operations; and provided further that this paragraph shall apply only to a county that has adopted ordinances regulating agricultural tourism under section 205-5;

(14) Wind energy facilities, including the appurtenances associated with the production and transmission of wind generated energy; provided that the wind energy facilities and appurtenances are compatible with agriculture uses and cause minimal adverse impact on agricultural land;

(15) Biofuel processing facilities, including the appurtenances associated with the production and refining of biofuels that is normally considered directly accessory and secondary to the growing of the energy feedstock; provided that biofuels processing facilities and appurtenances do not adversely impact agricultural land and other agricultural uses in the vicinity.

              For the purposes of this paragraph:

               "Appurtenances" means operational infrastructure of the appropriate type and scale for economic commercial storage and distribution, and other similar handling of feedstock, fuels, and other products of biofuels processing facilities.

              "Biofuel processing facility" means a facility that produces liquid or gaseous fuels from organic sources such as biomass crops, agricultural residues, and oil crops, including palm, canola, soybean, and waste cooking oils; grease; food wastes; and animal residues and wastes that can be used to generate energy[[; or]];

(16) Solar energy facilities, including appurtenances associated with the production and transmission of electrical energy from insolation; or

  [[(16)]] (17) Construction and operation of wireless communication antennas; provided that, for the purposes of this paragraph, "wireless communication antenna" means communications equipment that is either freestanding or placed upon or attached to an already existing structure and that transmits and receives electromagnetic radio signals used in the provision of all types of wireless communications services; provided further that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to permit the construction of any new structure that is not deemed a permitted use under this subsection."

     SECTION 5.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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