STAND. COM. REP. NO. 291

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1296

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 1296 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISASTER RECOVERY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to facilitate recovery efforts in areas of Maui devastated by the 2023 wildfires by:

(1) Exempting certain reconstructions of all or a portion of a structure in the Lahaina National Historic Landmark District that was destroyed by wildfire on August 8, 2023, from the requirement of a special management area permit or a special management area use permit; and

(2) Increasing the valuation threshold for a special management area minor permit and a special management area use permit from $500,000 to $750,000.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Mayor of the County of Maui; Square Feet Management, LLC; Kean Family, LLC; Lahaina Ratoon, LLC; Hawaiʻi Restaurant Association; Lahaina Restoration Foundation; LahainaTown Action Committee; Makai Sunset Inn; Art Source, Inc.; Trilogy Excursions; ABC Stores; Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation; Ola Maui; Warren & Annabelle's; Grassroot Institute of Hawaii; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; and forty-eight individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from two individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that the 2023 Maui Wildfires devastated Lahaina's heritage, economy, and sense of place, and has deeply affected housing, businesses, jobs, and treasured resources. If the area is not built in a deliberate, coordinated, and expeditious manner, the area may languish in the long term, further affecting the well-being of the land, people, and economy. Your Committee finds that exempting certain development from the requirements of a special management area minor permit or a special management area use permit will expedite the construction of non-shoreline structures destroyed in the 2023 Maui Wildfires. Accordingly, this measure will facilitate reconstruction efforts by exempting certain structures from the requirements of a special management area minor permit or a special management area use permit.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have increased the valuation threshold of a development subject to a special management area minor permit from $500,000 to $750,000 when it is located within an area subject to a federal disaster proclamation as of August 8, 2023;

(2) Deleting language that would have increased the valuation threshold of a development subject to a special management area use permit from $500,000 to $750,000 when it is located within an area subject to a federal disaster proclamation as of August 8, 2023;

(3) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1296, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1296, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair