SB 2546: Coastal Zone Management Act; Special Management Areas; Permitting; Requirements; Development; Excluded Activities; Exemption

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2546
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

Relating to the Coastal Zone Management Act.

 

 

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

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the federal Coastal Zone Management Act establishes a national framework for states and territories to consider when managing coastal resources and determining potential impacts on those resources.  The Act also authorizes the federal government to provide financial assistance to support coastal management efforts.

     The legislature further finds that the Coastal Zone Management Act's permitting framework is intended to regulate special management area development while allowing certain activities to proceed without unnecessary delay.  These activities, expressly excluded from the statutory definition of "development", are not intended to be subject to special management area application requirements.

     Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to amend the definition of "development" as it pertains to coastal zone management areas in the State to clarify that certain activities excluded from the definition of "development" and are not subject to special management area permit applications.

     SECTION 2.  Section 205A-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "development" to read as follows:

     ""Development":

     (1)  Means any [of the uses, activities, or operations on land or in or under water within a special management area that are included below:

          (A)  Placement or erection of any solid material or any gaseous, liquid, solid, or thermal waste;

          (B)  Grading, removing, dredging, mining, or extraction of any materials;

          (C)  Change in the density or intensity of use of land, including but not limited to the division or subdivision of land;

          (D)  Change in the intensity of use of water, ecology related thereto, or of access thereto; and

          (E)  Construction, reconstruction, or alteration of the size of any structure; and]

          use, activity, or structure, whether temporary or permanent, on land or in the water within the shoreline area that is placed, erected, or modified; and

     (2)  Does not include the following[:], and the following shall not be subject to special management area use permit requirements:

          (A)  Construction or reconstruction of a single-family residence that is less than seven thousand five hundred square feet of floor area; is not situated on a shoreline parcel or a parcel that is impacted by waves, storm surges, high tide, or shoreline erosion; and is not part of a larger development;

          (B)  Repair or maintenance of roads and highways within existing rights-of-way;

          (C)  Routine maintenance dredging of existing streams, channels, and drainage ways;

          (D)  Repair and maintenance of underground utility lines, including but not limited to water, sewer, power, and telephone and minor appurtenant structures including pad mounted transformers and sewer pump stations;

          (E)  Zoning variances, except for height, density, parking, and shoreline setback;

          (F)  Repair, maintenance, or interior alterations to existing structures;

          (G)  Demolition or removal of structures, except those structures located on any historic site as designated in national or state registers;

          (H)  Use of any land for the purpose of cultivating, planting, growing, and harvesting plants, crops, trees, and other agricultural, horticultural, or forestry products or animal husbandry, or aquaculture or mariculture of plants or animals, or other agricultural purposes, including all traditional fishpond and traditional agricultural practices;

          (I)  Transfer of title to land;

          (J)  Creation or termination of easements, covenants, or other rights in structures or land;

          (K)  Subdivision of land into lots greater than twenty acres in size;

          (L)  Subdivision of a parcel of land into four or fewer parcels when no associated construction activities are proposed; provided that any land that is so subdivided shall not thereafter qualify for this exception with respect to any subsequent subdivision of any of the resulting parcels;

          (M)  Installation of underground utility lines and appurtenant aboveground fixtures less than four feet in height along existing corridors;

          (N)  Structural and nonstructural improvements to existing single-family residences, where otherwise permissible;

          (O)  Nonstructural improvements to existing commercial or noncommercial structures;

          (P)  Construction, installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of emergency management warning or signal devices and sirens;

          (Q)  Installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of public pedestrian and bicycle facilities, including sidewalks, paths, bikeways, crosswalks, stairs, ramps, traffic control barriers, signs, signals, and associated improvements;

          (R)  Trash removal or invasive vegetation removal or control, including incidental ground disturbance, excluding the use of herbicides;

          (S)  Installation of fencing, including associated improvements and incidental structures, for invasive species control or preservation of native habitats on conservation land;

          (T)  Installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of lighting, fixtures, and equipment to establish compliance with current standards at existing public facilities;

          (U)  Installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of security measures, including fencing, to existing public facilities;

          (V)  Hawaiian traditional and customary practices, including work conducted by traditional means near, in, or related to loko i`a, traditional Hawaiian fishponds; and

          (W)  Reconstruction of any lawfully constructed structure that was damaged or destroyed in a disaster proclaimed by the governor to constitute a state of emergency pursuant to chapter 127A, or a disaster declared pursuant to federal law; provided that:

               (i)  The structure is not situated on a shoreline parcel or a parcel that is impacted by waves, storm surges, high tide, or shoreline erosion;

              (ii)  Reconstruction commences within six years from the date that the proclamation is issued; and

             (iii)  The reconstructed structure is similar to its original footprint or overall dimensions that were existing or permitted and in compliance with the requirements of floodplain management standards;

          provided that whenever the authority finds that any excluded use, activity, or operation may have a cumulative impact, or a significant environmental or ecological effect on a special management area, that use, activity, or operation shall be defined as "development" for the purpose of this part."

     SECTION 3.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     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; provided that the amendments made to section 205A-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by section 2 of this Act shall not be repealed when that section is reenacted on July 1, 2028, pursuant to  section 5 of Act 304, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

 

Report Title:

Coastal Zone Management Act; Special Management Areas; Permitting; Requirements; Development; Excluded Activities; Exemption

 

Description:

Amends the definition of "development" as it pertains to coastal zone management to clarify that certain activities excluded from the definition of "development" are not subject to special management area permit requirements.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.