HB2450 SD1.DOC

SECTION 1. Act 173, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009 (Act 173), recognized that to develop and finance renewable energy facilities, a site for the facilities and access to the site must often be leased, granted as an easement, or mortgaged to provide financing for the project. However, renewable energy projects may require site acreage or configurations that do not coincide with existing, already subdivided lot boundaries. For instance, land required for a project may constitute only a portion of a large legal lot, and it may be impractical or undesirable to lease or convey the entire legal lot for a renewable energy project, or to encumber the entire legal lot with a mortgage that provides financing for the project. Therefore, the purpose of Act 173 was to facilitate the financing and development of renewable energy projects by allowing leases and easements pertaining to renewable energy projects, together with mortgages and other conveyances as security for finance, to be created, enforced, and recorded, without requiring the landowner or the lessee to obtain formal subdivision approval, and instead requiring approval for exemption from subdivision requirements, from the applicable county or other approving agency.

However, the application of Act 173 was limited to solar energy facilities permitted under section 205-2(d)(6), on land with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class D or E or wind energy facilities and related appurtenances located within a conservation state land use district. The legislature finds that there may be other renewable energy projects that support agricultural activity on lands that were once used for sugar or pineapple production. Encouraging the use of currently fallow plantation lands for agricultural activity will support the State's efforts toward sustainability.

Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to extend the applicability of Act 173 to include agricultural-energy facilities on plantation community subdivisions. Further, this Act requires that any projects receiving an exemption under this Act or Act 173 apply for subdivision within two years after obtaining the exemption to alleviate any concerns that these exemptions may create an illegal lot.

SECTION 2. Section 201N-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

"(d) The exemption from subdivision requirements authorized by this section shall only apply to leases and easements that meet the following requirements and shall be subject to the following limitations:

(1) The lease or easement shall restrict the use of the leased land or easement area to the development and operation of a renewable energy project; provided that, to comply with section 205-4.6, agricultural uses and activities shall not be restricted on agricultural land;

(2) The lease shall have an initial term of at least twenty years;

(3) With respect to leases and easements on lands within an agricultural state land use district, the exemption from subdivision requirements provided by this section shall be for [~~solar~~]:

(A) Solar energy facilities permitted under section 205-2(d)(6), on land with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class D or E; and

(B) Agricultural-energy facilities permitted under sections 205-2(d)(1) or (7) and 205-4.5(a)(16) on all or part of a plantation community subdivision, as defined in section 205‑4.5(a)(12);

(4) With respect to leases and easements on lands within a conservation state land use district, the exemption from subdivision requirements provided by this section shall be for wind energy facilities, including the appurtenances associated with the production and transmission of wind-generated energy; and

(5) The county agency charged with administering subdivisions in the county in which the renewable energy project is to be situated or, if the land is in a conservation state land use district, the department of land and natural resources, shall approve the exemption from subdivision requirements within ninety days after the project's developer and the owner of the land on which the renewable energy project is to be situated have submitted the conceptual schematics or preliminary plans and specifications for the renewable energy project to the county agency or the department of land and natural resources, and have provided to such county agency or the department of land and natural resources, as applicable, a certification and agreement that all applicable and appropriate environmental reviews and permitting shall be completed prior to commencement of development of the renewable energy project. If, on the ninety-first day, an exemption has not been approved, it shall be deemed disapproved by the county agency or the department of land and natural resources, whichever is applicable."

SECTION 3. Any renewable energy project that obtains an exemption to subdivision requirements pursuant to Act 173, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, or this Act shall apply for subdivision with the agency granting their original exemption within two years from the date of receiving that original exemption.

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, and shall be repealed on the same date as section 2 of Act 173, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2450
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1