STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1290
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: H.B. No. 830
H.D. 2
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2025
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Water and Land and Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 830, H.D. 2, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION REVIEWS,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to promote more timely reviews of projects by requiring the Department of Land and Natural Resources, through the State Historic Preservation Division and subject to approval from the appropriate island burial council, to contract its review of proposed state projects, projects on privately-owned historic property, and projects affecting historic properties to third-party consultants if the Department is unable to complete its review within sixty days.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi Association of REALTORS, NAIOP Hawaii, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, and one individual.
Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO; Maui Chamber of Commerce; and AAC Consulting.
Your Committees find that while the historic preservation review requirements play an essential role in the protection and management of the State's historic and cultural resources, these requirements impede development, exacerbating the shortage of affordable housing in the State. Your Committees further find that permit applicants also face significant delays in obtaining county permits that require historic preservation review because of the overwhelming volume of submissions for review. Your Committees also find that requiring the Department of Land and Natural Resources (Department) to contract with third parties for the review of certain projects will reduce the Department's backlog of reviews. Accordingly, this measure streamlines the historic preservation review process to expedite development in the State.
Your Committees note the concerns in the testimony of the Department regarding funding for the recruitment and retention of qualified third-party consultants and the liability assumed by the Department when retaining a third-party consultant. Your Committees further note that S.B. No. 1002, S.D. 2 (2025), was already passed by the Senate and is a substantially similar measure that also requires the Department to retain a third-party consultant to review proposed state projects and projects affecting historic properties under certain conditions. Your Committees also note that the Department prefers the language in S.B. No. 1002, S.D. 2, as it addresses some of the concerns raised by the Department in its testimony.
Accordingly,
your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Inserting
language specifying that the Department shall contract its review of a proposed
state project involving the development of residential units intended as
affordable housing if the Department, after an initial evaluation, determines
that it will not be able to complete its review within sixty days;
(2) Inserting
language requiring that the project proponent of a state-proposed project pay
for the reasonable fee requirements of the third-party consultant;
(3) Inserting
language specifying that the Department shall contract its review of a proposed
project affecting historic property that involves the development of
residential units intended as affordable housing if the Department, after an
initial evaluation, determines that it will not be able to complete its review
within sixty days;
(4) Inserting
language requiring that the project proponent of a proposed project affecting
historic property pay the reasonable fee requirements of a third-party
consultant;
(5) Specifying
that the Department shall publish on its website proposed rules governing the
recruitment and retention of third-party consultants;
(6) Inserting
language requiring that the Department present its proposed final rules to the
Board of Land and Natural Resources within one year of publishing the proposed
rules on its website;
(7) Inserting
a blank appropriation for the State Historic Preservation Division to recruit
and retain qualified third-party consultants;
(8) Deleting
language that would have repealed this measure on June 30, 2031;
(9) Amending
section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;
(10) Making certain provisions effective on July 1,
2027; and
(11) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments
for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 830, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 830, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Housing,
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________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair |
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________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair |
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