SB233

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that climate resilience is essential in preventing and responding to natural emergencies. On August 8, 2023, wildfires swept across Maui and killed at least one hundred two people, making it one of the nation's deadliest natural disasters. The spread of the fires has been attributed to climate change conditions, such as unusually dry landscapes and the confluence of a strong high-pressure system to the north and Hurricane Dora to the south. The wildfires destroyed over two thousand two hundred structures, including numerous residential buildings, historic landmarks, and school facilities. In September 2023, a report from the United States Department of Commerce estimated the total economic damage of the wildfires to be roughly $5.5 billion.

The legislature further finds that climate change is occurring as a result of human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels that release carbon dioxide. Continued burning of fossil fuels can cause irreparable harm to the State and the planet. Thirty-four per cent of Hawaii's coastlines are vulnerable to intensifying coastal hazards resulting from accelerating sea level rise, according to a study performed by researchers at the university of Hawaii.

The legislature additionally finds that according to a report produced by the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission, global sea levels could rise more than three feet by 2100, with more recent projections showing this occurring as early as 2060. The report also found that over the next thirty to seventy years, approximately six thousand five hundred structures, thirty-eight miles of coastal roads, five hundred fifty cultural sites, and nineteen thousand eight hundred people statewide will be exposed to chronic flooding, resulting in an estimated $19 billion in economic loss.

The legislature also finds that in response to the growing threat of climate change and natural disasters, the State has set standards and launched initiatives to expand sustainable and efficient energy reliance, including setting a statewide benchmark of generating one hundred per cent of the State's electricity through renewable resources by 2045 and establishing a goal for the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit to be at least fifty per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Meeting these initiatives will require increased employment in climate resilience, clean energy, and emergency preparedness positions for Hawaii's workforce.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Require the Hawaii clean energy initiative program to design and implement a plan to increase jobs that strengthen emergency preparedness and climate resilience; and

(2) Authorize the use of the energy security special fund to advance the State's goals of strengthening emergency preparedness and climate mitigation.

SECTION 2. Section 196-10.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending its title and subsection (a) to read as follows:

"[[]§196-10.5[]] Hawaii clean energy initiative program. (a) There is established within the department of business, economic development, and tourism, a Hawaii clean energy initiative program to manage the State's transition to a clean energy economy. The clean energy program shall design, implement, and administer activities that include:

(1) Strategic partnerships for the research, development, testing, deployment, and permitting of clean and renewable technologies;

(2) Engineering and economic evaluations of Hawaii's potential for near-term project opportunities for the State's renewable energy resources;

(3) Electric grid reliability and security projects that will enable the integration of a substantial increase of electricity from renewable-energy resources;

(4) A statewide clean energy public education and outreach plan to be developed in coordination with Hawaii's institutions of public education;

(5) Promotion of Hawaii's clean and renewable resources to potential partners and investors;

(6) A plan, to be implemented from 2011 to 2030, to transition the State to a clean energy economy; [~~and~~]

(7) A plan, to be implemented from 2011 to 2030, to assist each county in transitioning to a clean energy economy[.]; and

(8) A plan, to be implemented from 2026 to 2036, to increase jobs that strengthen emergency preparedness and climate resilience, especially those jobs that meet or exceed the self-sufficiency standard established by the department of business, economic development, and tourism pursuant to section 201-3(a)(5); provided that the plan shall include strategies for expanding workforce development and training programs that assist workers employed in carbon-heavy jobs in obtaining positions that strengthen emergency preparedness, climate resilience, and disaster readiness and that provide an equivalent level of financial security."

SECTION 3. Section 201-12.8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) Subject to legislative appropriation, moneys from the fund may be expended by the Hawaii state energy office for the following purposes and used for no other purposes, except for those set forth in this section:

(1) To support the Hawaii clean energy initiative program and projects that promote and advance dependable and affordable energy, renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy self-sufficiency, and greater energy security and resiliency for the State and public facilities;

(2) To fund, to the extent possible, the climate change mitigation and adaptation commission and the greenhouse gas sequestration task force;

(3) To support achieving the zero emissions clean economy target set forth in section 225P-5;

(4) To fund projects and incentives to promote the adoption of clean transportation technologies, develop clean vehicle charging infrastructure, and upgrade infrastructure to support the development of clean vehicle charging infrastructure; [~~and~~]

(5) To fund, to the extent possible, the duties of the state building code council in section 107-24, as they relate to the development of energy conservation codes[.]; and

(6) To fund, to the extent possible, workforce development and training programs that advance the State's goals of strengthening emergency preparedness and climate resilience, including jobs that improve disaster readiness, increase clean energy generation, reduce carbon emissions, expand sustainable agriculture and local food production programs, and advance the State's transition to a clean energy economy; provided that priority shall be given to jobs that meet or exceed the self-sufficiency standard established by the department of business, economic development, and tourism pursuant to section 201-3(a)(5)."

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

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	233
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII