House Standing Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection

Good morning.

We're convening the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection. This morning is Thursday, February 19th, 2026. It's 9:45 AM and we are in Conference Room 325. I'm joined by Chair Lowen and I'm Representative Perruso. And we're going to start with House Bill 1986 relating to clean fuel standard.

Requires the Department of Transportation to adopt rules by 01-01-2028 governing a clean fuel standard for alternative fuels in the state. Requires reporting and public informational session requirements. First to testify we have the Department of Transportation, Ed Sniffen, in support, on Zoom. Not present.

If he does show up, maybe we'll come back to him if he gets here in time. Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission, Leia Laramy, in support, in person.

Hello, Chair Lowen and Vice Chair Perruso. Leia Laramy, the Climate Change Mitigation Adaptation Commission. Sent our testimony with support and available for questions. Mahalo.

Thank you. We have Neste, Cristina Cornejo, in support, in person.

Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair. Cristina Cornejo, Senior Public Affairs with Neste and we stand on our written testimony in support.

Thank you. We also have testimony in support from the Low Carbon Fuels Coalition. With comments from Island...Services. In support from Pump Cleaner Fuels Hawaii. Lea Carlisle in support, in person.

We'll stand on written testimony and are available for any questions.

Thank you. We have Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. Jacob Aki, with comments.

Hi, Chair. Chair, Vice Chair, Members, Jacob Aki on behalf of Alaska Hawaiian Airlines. We will stand on our written comments, and we'll be here if you have any questions. Mahalo nui.

Clean Energy, Ryan Kenny, Policy Director, in support. Energy—hi.

Oh, hi.

I didn't see you were going to be testifying, so.

Chair Lowen, Vice Chair Perruso, Al Chief from Island Energy Services. We stand in our testimony. I'll be here if you have any questions.

Thank you. So, going back to Clean Energy, Ryan Kenny, in support. Energy Justice Network, Mike Ewall, in opposition, on zoom.

Welcome. Good afternoon or morning, sorry, Chairs and Vice Chair. I guess there are no Members here.

I'm the Executive Director of Energy Justice Network and also the Co-Chair of the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii and asking you to oppose this Bill because clean fuels are not clean, sustainable aviation fuel is not sustainable, and there is a big economic problem with pushing policies that are aiming to move from fossil fuels to biofuels or waste-based fuels within less than a two decade time, between now and 2045, when we're going to have to move the state again in a second major industrial transition to fuels that are carbon free.

These so called sustainable and clean fuels are not carbon free. They have carbon, they emit greenhouse gases when they are burned. Not to mention lots of problems in the production systems, most of which are not even in the state because they can't grow much of it in the state. There's not enough land or water to do so.

But the idea that something that's already expensive is going to become much more expensive trying to do two transitions in less than 20 years from not just fossil fuels, biofuels, but then biofuels to electrofuels, which is what the Hawaii Department of Transportation's plan from last summer proposes.

It's a major expense to take an industry that sets itself up, that is trying to pay itself off over usually around a 30 year time frame and shut it down within 10 years so you can replace it with a totally different one.

And so, for that reason and for the fact that we are able, except for long distance aviation, to electrify all energy sectors without having to go to different burnable fuels as an interim step, I would encourage you to shoot down this Bill and support other ones like one that's being considered in Transportation Committee very shortly on sea gliders, a way to electrify inter island transportation without having to move to burnable fuels instead.

Thank you. Next to testify we have Beta Analytic. Jessica Valis with comments. Par Hawaii submitted testimony with comments.

Hello, Chair. Hello, and Vice Chair Perruso. Mark Inoue from Par Hawaii. We stand on our written comments. Here for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. IMUA Alliance, Chris Caulfield, in support, in person. Not present. Rivian, Abigail Ramsden, in support. Environmental Caucus of Democratic Party of Hawaii, Alan Burdick, in opposition. Life of the Land, Henry Curtis, in support, in person.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair. Henry Curtis, Executive Director of Life of the Land. As a previous speaker said, we can electrify everything. The problem is we can't do it all at once. And there is no plan to electrify everything all at once by 2045. Islands are different than continents. There needs to be an understanding of that.

We need to find ways of gradually reducing our greenhouse gases. It's better to take some steps than to refuse to take any steps. We support the Bill. Mahalo.

Thank you. Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas, Yanni Psareas, in support, on zoom.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair. My name is Yanni Psareas, State Government Affairs Manager for the RNG Coalition, standing in strong support with our testimony. Thank you.

Thank you. We also have 22 individuals in support on this measure, as well as six individuals in opposition. Is there anyone else who wishes to testify on this measure?

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members. Laura Kaku for Hawaii Department of Transportation. Apologies for being late. We stand on our testimony in support and are here for questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else here to testify? Please come forward.

Hello. I'm Ted Metros, Chair, Vice Chair. Glad to be here. I previously managed Par Hawaii's renewable fuel standards. It's a very big challenge. The federal program has us at 13.3%. It's been in operation since at least 2007 and it's cost the company tens of millions of dollars, even with federal supplements through credits.

This is a huge lift here and one myth I want to expose right now is that this is not just a regulatory structure that provides it free. There are people that are proposing tax credits for...and other renewable fuels. Those would be going into this on a voluntary basis. Those are real dollars.

So, if it's 100, $200 million, those are entering this clean standard. Most of all, I want to point out that this would be a relaxation of the standards that are already established. Section two of this Bill provides that the targets being established by this shall be no less than 50%, no less than 50% by 2045.

This is under section one. We're supposed to be done by the end of 2045. So, this is an unacceptable relaxation. Unless somebody wants to narrow the scope and say this is only for transportation fuels or fuels that are specifically impacted by the low carbon fuel standard.

Again, reiterating, if we embrace this standard, we should phase out credits that would under undermine it and let that system take over.

Thank you so much. Is there anyone else who wishes to testify? Seeing none. Members, are there any questions?

Who's here? Is Energy Office here?

We didn't testify on this, but.

Sorry. Okay. What do you think about this concern about no less than 50%?

For compared to the RFS is I believe what is being referenced. I, I can't really to it. The no less than 50%, the clean fuels.

By 2045.

2045. I haven't looked into this Bill recently in detail.

We originally were gonna—we've chosen to monitor this Bill. We are concerned with the costs associated with this Bill.

All right, thanks.

Any additional questions? Representative Kusch?

No. Thank you though.

Okay. Seeing no questions, we are going to move on to the next measure. House Bill 1694 relating to sustainable aviation fuel tax credit establishes a tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel distribution in Hawaii to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Provides $1 per gallon increasing by $0.02 per additional $0.11% emissions reduction up to $2 per gallon caps total credits at 20 million annually with carryover provisions. Requires reporting to ensure transparency and compliance. Applies to taxable years beginning December 312026 and sunsets on December 312035.

First to testify in this measure of Hawaii Department of Taxation with comments in person.

Good morning. Chair, Vice Chair Committee Member Garrison Kurth, on behalf of the Department of Taxation, will stand on our written testimony providing comments on Administration here for questions on that. Thank you.

Thank you. We also have testimony and support from Kohala Coast Resort association and Island Energy Services. Albert Chee with comments in person.

Chair Along Vice Chair Al Qi from Island Energy Services. We stand in our comments. Can answer any questions if you have

thank you testimony from Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. Jacob Aki and support thank you.

Chair Vice Chair Members Jacob Akee on behalf of Alaska Hawaiian Airlines, we stand on our written testimony in strong support.

But I think a couple of comments that we wanted to provide is, you know, as we monitored this Bill and as we monitor this issue, we we really did want to make clear that and I know some of the criticism against this Bill is that this would be a handout to the airlines, but I want to make clear that the airlines will not be receiving any sort of tax incentive, you know, if this credit passes.

What we are supportive of and why we're so engaged really on this issue is that we really want to spur and to start the production of SAF here in the state.

The issue that I think what we're seeing with SAF across the entire country is it's more expensive to produce safety than it is to produce conventional jet fuel.

We're trying to close a cost gap which is about $4 with some of the federal incentives that have been in place at the federal level that's been able to close that gap by about $1.50 to $2.

But to really make it feasible for us to use saf, it needs to be at a rate that is comparable to conventional jet fuel. SAF is the only way that we as the aviation industry can really reduce our carbon footprint.

And we've been engaged on this issue at the federal level and at the state level for the past several years. But I think what's more important why we have this particular Bill is that we've seen in the past that there's been conversations and there's been questions about locally produced feedstock, which we are totally in support of.

And I think this Bill does support that. But the reality that I think what this Bill and we hope spurs in these conversations is that Even with all of the available land, we're not going to grow enough or we don't have enough available land to meet the needs of our aviation industry.

We we use over 600 million gallons of fuel every single year. And you know, with the producers that are here in the state, we would only be able to maybe produce maybe at most 10%.

So what this Bill does provide is it provides incentives for locally produced feedstock, but it also has incentives for us to bring in feedstock from elsewhere but have it produced here. And what we wanted to make clear, and I'll end my comments here, is that the credit would go to the distributors and not to the airlines.

But we are here if you have any questions and would really appreciate your folks. Thank you.

Next we have Tom Yamachika from Tax foundation of Hawaii with comments on Zoom.

Aloha. Colleen Terramay on behalf of Tom Yamachika, Tax foundation stands on its written testimony. Thank you.

Thank you. We have the Hawaii Food Industry Association Lauren Zerbel in support on zoom.

Good morning Chair, vice chair and Member of the Committee. I'm Alexis Chapman for hfia. We stand on our testimony in support and I'd be happy to answer any question questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Pono Pacific Chris Bennett and support in person.

Hello Dr. Vice Chair Member Chris Bennet, Pono Pacific. And we just stand on our written testimony support. Thank you.

Thank you. Have testimony and support from Hawaii Farm Bureau. We also have Energy Energy Justice Network Mike Ewall in opposition on Zoom.

Okay to pick up on similar topics from Chas Bill about whether we can electrify all at once in 19 years. We must electrify or will be in violation of state law and the Navajina settlement. The notion that we will complete two transitions in that time is just preposterous.

Especially because building up an industry of biofuels and waste based fuels SAF industry that would not want to then close down within that 19 year time frame to pave the way for the electrofuels transition. It creates a political and financial obstacle to full electrification.

It's a mistake to do that investment knowing that they're going to prevent you from moving to the next step that's legally mandated. Furthermore, there's no legal requirement in state law or the Navajina settlement to tackle fuels for air travel to continents. It specifically says Inter Island Air travel, not travel to continents.

But this staff would mostly be for feeding planes that are going everywhere. HDOT included travel to continents in their plan but the state should focus on sectors that have non burn solutions. The interisland and all the other sectors have non burn solutions already. Two more quick points.

The climate models like Grete and Acer that are used in the HDOT plan make biofuels look lower in their carbon footprint than the fossil fuels that they replace. However, flaws that have been pointed out by leading climate scientists show that this is only because of them incorrectly evaluating indirect land use change.

It's possible that a lot of these biofuels have climate impacts that are as bad or worse than the fossil fuels they replace. And a lot of them have other types of impacts that are also quite harmful, if not worse.

And finally, last year in the hearings on similar bills, Senator okay talked about his concern that taxpayers will be funding this through tax credits. Yet a lot of these taxpayers are people who never fly or rarely fly, and it's largely subsidizing tourists and others who do. And that just seems not to be the right thing to do.

Thank you. We have testimony from Derek Phelps from twelve in support the Airlines Committee of Hawaii. Goodbye. oh, sorry.

Lori Lom on behalf of the Airlines Committee of Hawaii we'll stand on our testimony and strong support.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

PAR Hawaii Mark Inouye or Eric Gray in support in person

hello Chair Vice Chair Member Mark from PAR Hawaii. We do stand in support HB 1694 BE for any question. Thank you.

Thank you. EMU Alliance Chris Caulfield in support in person not present Hawaii Renewable Fuels Coalition

Aloha Chair Vice Chair Members of the Committee Nahilani Parsons on behalf of the Hawaii Renewable Fuels Coalition and support this measure as we stand before the Energy and Environment Committee. We recognize that aviation accounts for over 50% of our greenhouse gas emissions.

And while we acknowledge that SAF is not currently produced in Hawaii, it takes policies like this to help us grow and incentivize that market. One of the great benefits we have right now is that we don't need additional infrastructure or any additional investment by the state for putting it in place.

Our fuel producers will have the renewable diesel we need this year and that can be blended to make sustainable aviation fuel.

Bridging that gap, as the airlines mentioned in their testimony, is a key proponent of making it realistic and making it affordable and over time, although it might be a 0% now produced by the end of the year, it could be really significant and that impact on that over you know that greenhouse gas emissions for the state are really, really impactful, especially for the Navajine but also just for our clean energy goals.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I'm available if you have questions.

Thank you. We have Environmental caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. Alan Burdick in opposition, Life of the Land, Henry Curtis in opposition,

LOHA chair, vice chair and Committee Member Henry Curtis Executive Director of Life of the Land. The reason we oppose this is we think 1695 is a bit stronger. Right. Did I get my testimony correct? We think this Bill should be put into 1695 because 1695 has a broader title.

This Bill is better than the 1695 and that way 1694 would either have the current stuff or be held.

But the interesting point is, although it has a 92F clause in it that says the public can have access to the documents, which is important, there's no mechanism to determine when the dockets documents are available and no ability to influence anything. So they this has to have stronger disclosure requirements. Mahalo.

Thank you. We have Ted Metros in opposition in person.

Yes, hello, I am Ted Metros. I am also the whistleblower on the par Hawaii FTZ tax case. This Bill along with the other Bill could provide far Hawaii with $42.5 million in tax credits per year, completely undermining the efforts. So I have proposed language in the Bill to limit that exposure.

That's not the only reason to oppose this Bill. This bill's been characterized as a bridge. This is a bridge to nowhere. We cannot develop the amount of SAF that is needed through this Bill. This would provide maybe 13 million gallons. You heard from the airlines. They say we need 600 million.

600 million times a buck and a half is well over a billion dollars. How are we going to get there? Through economies of scale credits. Look, we aren't even going to have an opportunity for some breakthrough with power to fuel programs because we're going to be locked into a.

This says 10 year, but it's going to be a 15 year program at least because there's five year rollover programs. If you're going to adopt any element of this, even though there are some drawbacks, this money should be put in strictly to interisland fares.

And then this first effort alone, this first 13 million would cover 20% of our interisland air. You heard about 60 million gallons a year. So at least it gets us up and going, headed in the right direction where our priorities are already established by hrs. Thank you.

Thank you. We also have testimony from one additional individual in support and six individuals and five individuals in opposition. Is there anyone else who wishes to testify in this measure?

Aloha since I'm here, Laura Kaakua from Hawaii Department of Transportation. We did submit testimony and support and I just wanted to maybe clarify how the different bills before you today relating to cleaner fuels might interact with each other.

We see the clean fuel standard as a long term strategy with a slower curve looking at affordability for residents as a top priority. The way that the Bill is written now, I think we have to adopt rules by 2028. It'll take us at least an additional year to actually implement the program.

And so without the short term strategies of these tax credits, we will continue to not have SAF at all in Hawaii. And so that's why we're supporting both the long term strategy of the clean fuel standard plus the short term strategy of the tax credits meant to jumpstart the industry. And I'm here for questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to testify on this measure? Members, any questions?

I guess, Dot, have you done some analysis on, like, what would be the actual impact of this? I mean, you claim that it will jumpstart a local industry, but do we really know that to be the case? And if it did, what percent of the fuel produced?

I mean, given the large need, what percent of the fuel we were able to produce, would it be of the total demand?

Just pertaining to the SAF tax credits, what is known is the Max amount? Right, because there is that $20 million cap. Potentially with the additional cap in the renewable fuels tax credit, we can be confident in having SAF in Hawaii right up to the gallons that are supported by that cap.

But those gallons are what percent of the total demand?

They're a very small percent of the total demand per year. So, so it's not.

That's the known need, 1%, less than 1%.

Oh, I'm sorry, I don't have the exact calculation in mind right now. Really though, we're not looking at it as only supporting what is going to be capped. Right. We're looking at this.

There is a sunset date on this because once the systems are put in place, once Hawaii is on the map as an area that does have incentives for SAF to come in, that will actually pair with the ramp up of the clean fuel standard.

So once the sun sets from the tax credits, once the tax credits go away, the clean fuel standard will have ramped up to hopefully be able to sustain. It'll be less than what's given by the tax credits, but it should have.

It might not be a dollar or it will not be a dollar per gallon, but it could be around 20 cents per gallon in the cleanfield standard to sustain it over the long term.

And what kind of local feedstocks would be available in Hawaii?

Kind of a little I would actually have to defer to. Sure.

Like you have an answer available.

I would also. Chris Bennett, Pono Pacific I would also like to clarify that the SAF Bill doesn't directly have any ag component in it, so we are supported supportive of it to uplift the General industry.

I think the local part of this Bill is the local production par would be making of SAF here and they are scheduled to be online I believe within a month producing fuel SAF locally. But this is not a producer's tax credit. This is a distributor's tax credit. So this would encompass other producers of

fuel as well, meaning imported fuel. Yes.

Yeah.

Okay, thanks.

No, that's that.

Okay. All right. Seeing no additional questions, we're going to move on House Bill 1695, HD 1, relating to renewable fuel. This expands the provisions of the Renewable Fuels Production Tax Credit and applies to taxable years beginning after December 31st, 2025, effective, well. So, the first to testify on this measure is Hawaii State Energy Office, with comments, and proceed.

Morning, Chair, Vice Chair, and Member of the Committee. Monique Sanfas. We stand on our written comments. I am available for questions and happy to answer any. Thank you.

Thank you. Hawaii Department of Transportation—I'm sorry, taxation.

Good morning, again. Garrison Kurth from Department of Taxation. We'll stand on our written comments providing testimony on administration and I'm here for questions. Thank you.

Thank you. And now we have Department of Transportation, Ed Sniffen, Director in support.

My name is Laura Kaku for Hawaii Department of Transportation. We stand on our testimony in support.

Kohala Coast Resort Association, Stephanie Donoho, in support. Island Energy Services, Albert Shi, with comments, in person.

Chair Lowen, Vice Chair Perruso. As earlier testifiers has indicated, you know, the total demand is likely not going to be able to be served by...island production. So, Island Energy Services is an importer of fuel, and we presently import, of course, fossil fuel based upon the demand of our customers.

As that begins to transition, we can import biofuels in large quantities when that demand rises. So, when we talk about tax credits and incentives, those need to be a level playing field and imports need to be able to secure that as well in order to attract the kind of supply we're going to need. Thank you.

Next, we have Jacob Aki, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, in support, in person.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Members. Jacob Aki, on behalf of Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines. We'll stand on our written testimony in strong support.

But just another comment that we wanted to add is I think any incentive to incentivize the production of SAF really is key in sending a market signal that there are incentives for outside investments into the state with, you know, within the broader SAF industry.

You know, we are supportive of any vehicle that does look to upstart the production of SAF here. Thus, you know, we are in strong support. Thank you.

Thank you. Tax Foundation of Hawaii, Tom Yamachika, with comments on Zoom.

Aloha. Colleen Taramay, on behalf of President Tom Yamachika, Tax Foundation stands on its written testimony. Thank you.

Thank you. Pono Pacific, Chris Bennett, in support, in person.

Aloha. Chris Bennett with Pono Pacific in strong support of HB 1695. This policy has significant implications for Hawaii's economy, spanning power generation, transportation, and agriculture.

HB 1695's low emission renewable fuel credit will help make locally grown feedstocks economically viable and create new agricultural opportunities for farmers, but also help cattle ranchers, egg producers, and others by providing a new source of animal feed. We do request that you amend the definition of "renewable feedstocks" to specifically include camelina.

It currently includes oil crops not limited to algae, canola, jatropa, palm, soybean, and sunflower. Thank you.

Thank you. We have testimony in support from Hawaii Farm Bureau, Brian Miyamoto. Also, Energy Justice Network Mike Ewall, in opposition, on Zoom.

Thank you, Chair, Co-Chair, Member. Mike Ewall, Energy Justice Network. In addition to my earlier comments on the other two bills, sharing information I've seen from similar bills and other committees on the Senate side just this week, there was testimony showing that in answer to your question, Chair Lowen, about how much can be produced in the state. The answer was between about 4 and 10% that could be in—that could be produced in state. The rest will be imported from continents on fossil fuel tankers, of course.

And last year, as I cite in my testimony, a link to this if you want to check it out, on the Senate side, also on similar bills, Senator DeCoite brought in a testifier from the Department of Agriculture and asked many specific questions about how much land and how much water is even available in state for growing biofuels.

And the answer was next to none. It makes the 4 to 10% number seem optimistic from what they were saying in their testimony.

And she recently, just a couple days ago, Senator DeCoite was expressing concern over the food versus fuel issues and if you can't grow things in Hawaii, it makes more sense to be growing food than fuels.

But the other main feedstock and specifically on this House Bill 1695, I see language in there adding construction and demolition waste as a feedstock. We know that there's a company at Oha Carbon, Simon Petrie is here to testify on that.

They are trying to build a construction demolition waste, gasification, or pyrolysis type of facility in Campbell Industrial Park. That construction demolition waste includes treated woods.

It's very common that arsenic is used in wood treatment and it was the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, in their own testimony on this topic last year, has documented that there are 200 times as much arsenic in that in that wood than in clean wood if that were used.

And so, at a minimum, I would encourage you to take construction and demolition waste out of this Bill, so we don't have toxic feedstocks producing...Thank you.

Thank you. We have PAR Hawaii, Mark Inoue, in support, in person.

Hello, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Mark Inoue from Par Hawaii. We do stand in strong support of HB 1695. I—just to add some comments here, similar to Pono Pacific. You know, within our next few months, our refinery will begin producing renewable fuels, after years of investment planning and transitioning one of our current infrastructure into a refining unit.

These fuels are going to be based from plant-based feedstocks. Fats, oils and greases will help supply airports, harbors, utilities, and other transportation sectors with locally produced energy.

By producing these fuels right here in Hawaii, we can strengthen local energy security while significantly lowering our greenhouse gas sectors of economy. The RFPTC is designed to make renewable fuel production in Hawaii economically viable. By helping close this cost gap, the policy enables producers to advance the production of using lower carbon renewable fuels.

We urge you to support this Bill. We also support the amendments provided by the Renewable Fuels Coalition. I'll be here for—thank you for allowing me to testify. I'll be here for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Hawaii Renewable Fuels Coalition, Nahilani Parsons, in support, in person.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee. Nahilani Parsons on behalf of the Renewable Fuels Coalition. Stand in strong support with some amendments. It's—really thankful to this Committee for hearing this Bill.

It's policies like this that give the Legislature the opportunity to make those decisions that drive our industries that we are working really hard to build. This Bill supports is much broader. It supports farmers growing their crops, crops like camelina that was mentioned. It's a brassica, very similar to canola.

We also have fuel producers like Pacific Biodiesel that's growing canola. All of this helps drive a new industry and helps the economy build and helps us reach our climate goals. Without this Bill, we can't do this because the simple reality is the cost of renewable fuel is $2 to $4 more than the regular, conventional.

And I just want to mention, there are provisions in the Bill that kind of safeguards, like for example, the statute is currently limited at $20 million cap. But the Bill also has protections against one producer using the whole amount of the credit.

So, it's capped per producer so that you won't exceed, you know, won't all go to one producer. It will be fairly distributed. There's also a provision in the Bill that really talks about the product transportation emissions threshold. What does that mean? It really—it's an additional credit that's intended to benefit fuels that have a lower carbon intensity.

So, in theory, if you grow it here, you get the credit. If you ship it here, you might not qualify because of the additional greenhouse gas emissions from that process. So, the Bill is really focused on helping support our local economy and our local feedstock, as well as grow our industry.

And in terms of percentages, you know, we are aiming—the long term goal would be, would be like a 20% of our current fuel usage, if we could get there. It will take time, it will take five to 10 years, potentially more to build to that scale.

But without policies like this, we will not be able to have that opportunity. We have to show the market is in place and that that's how we'll support our farmers to get there and grow it and over time, that will reduce the cost and therefore. So, thanks for the opportunity to testify and available if you have questions.

Hawaii Transportation Association, Tina Yamaki, in support, on zoom. Not present. Pacific Biodiesel Technologies, Robert King, in support, in person.

Chair, Vice Chair, Members, thanks for having me. Bob King, President of Pacific Biodiesel, a Hawaii company. Been making BioDiesel here for 30 years. We'd like to continue investing in more, more production, more biodiesel here in Hawaii.

Unfortunately, the federal situation is very dire to this industry right now and this Bill is very important to us, to continue our mission. We are about the circular economy. We've got almost 100 people working for the company, both on the waste collection and the agriculture side.

Our agriculture side, in particular, is the way we farm with biodiesel tractors incorporating biomass back into the ground.

We think this is actually carbon negative fuel and the life cycle greenhouse gas of the way Pacific Biodiesel farms with our waste oils and our agriculture is actually much lower than fossil fuel and actually lower than electric because electric is still using batteries. No matter how you make the electric, it has higher carbon footprint than our fuel.

We'd like to keep going. We've got a lot of plans. Food, fuel, animal feed. And we sure use a little bit of support from the state. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we have Simonpietri Enterprises, Naomi Kukac, in support, on Zoom.

Aloha. Good morning, Chair, Members of the Committee, and to the public. My name is Naomi Kukac. I'm here on behalf of Simonpietri Enterprises. We are a small local company whose technical expertise and innovations reside in the areas of waste management, energy and nutrient recovery, and the circular economy.

And for the better part of six years, we've been developing innovative ways to address some of Hawaii's most challenging waste by recycling them into fuels, fertilizer, and other recycled material products.

Now, it's obviously not uncommon knowledge that the cost of doing business in Hawaii is expensive and a limiting factor for many companies, especially when it comes to energy and infrastructure projects.

And so, bills like this tax credit not only help to incentivize companies to do business here but also helps smaller companies like ours to contribute our innovative solutions with greater, greater success. And so, we'd like to urge your support of this Bill.

We do understand and appreciate concerns presented by one of our other testifiers about the feedstocks and technology used in our process. And so, we are also available to reach out to for any questions regarding the work that we're doing. We have submitted written testimony, and we thank you for the opportunity to testify this morning.

Thank you. We have Alan Burdick from the Environmental Caucus of Democratic Party Hawaii, in opposition. We have Henry Curtis, Life of the Land, in support.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members. Henry Curtis, Executive Director of Life of the Land. We've been in 10 or so biofuel percentage proceedings before the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission. They have involved local production, imports from the continent, and imports from around the world.

We recognize that biofuels is a broad category that can have everything from benign effects to catastrophic effects. It is simply an extremely broad category. There needs to be some public awareness of it and there needs to be some public disclosure. There are two points that are critical.

One, if you grow biofuels on ag land or if you import it, there's no EIS trigger. So, it's important in this Bill to have a public disclosure. The second point is we have seen no path for Oahu or Maui to reach 100% electrification without 5 to 20% liquid fuels.

There are many people out there who will say, magically, 2045, we will have a solution, so don't worry. But none of them have come forward with any kind of concrete plan that shows a remote possibility of doing it without liquid fuels. Mahalo.

Thank you. We also have testimony in support from the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas, Yanni Perseus. Not present. Kapolei Chamber of Commerce, Kieran Polk, in support. And then we have three individuals in opposition and one individual additional individual in support. Is there anyone else who'd like to testify on this measure? Mr. Metros.

Yes. Chair. Vice Chair. This Bill is embracing so many false...it's hard to believe. Let's start with the production notion. Report has already been conducted, about 600 gallons per acre. Par's facility is going to produce 600 million acres. That would take a 100,000 acres to cover just Par's production alone.

Hawaii only has 125 acres in ag service. Pona Pacific said, oh, we're going to do 25%, 25,000 acres. Does anybody really believe that for an extra dollar a gallon per crop, which is not guaranteed to them at all, that that's going to draw in 25,000 acres? People are missing as well—did you hear any mention of the partnership that is with Mitsubishi and Enos, Japanese firms that are anxious to provide feedstock to Hawaii?

Not a word on that. They could import feedstock. They can import the finished product, but it's being provided to the Committee in order to get the tax credits.

And as a result, you don't, you don't get to see some of the opportunities. This is a huge bump up. This goes from 34 to 275 or so per gallon. And yet, we should probably be doing—I provided a link linking it to a carbon fuel standard for Oregon where you get a credit related to parallel reductions in gases.

I want to state right now, this Bill, to convey the point, this Bill states that it's for renewable production facilities within and outside the state.

So, the whole notion that things are going to be done here only, and that's the justification, that should not enter your consideration. The only thing that's relevant is what keeps things in the state. And that is do you have a threshold dollar number so that doesn't make stuff get exported?

And that number is California's low carbon fuel standard. And I want to tell you, the old premise has changed. It used to be a dollar a gallon. It's down now to less than 50 cents a gallon. I put that in my testimony.

If we can just get that threshold established, we should be able to keep more of it here. But we've got to import and there's got to be other ways than a production tax that is so richly rewarding. Just a very few select companies.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to testify in this measure? Seeing none. Members, are there any questions?

Sure, yes. Energy Office. Just trying to find in the Bill, you were mentioning amendments that strip out HSEO's authority to verify meeting the greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements.

Yes, that was pages 11 to 14, and I think there's language that can kind of amend that. So, I suspect that it was stricken out because of the change of the fossil—less than that of fossil fuel. So, if it can just be added back in to have us verify whatever the life cycle emissions threshold is. So, I think that was pages of

Just looking for where the stricken language, or is it not—is it like whole section? Here, okay. On page nine.

Yes.

Page 9, 11 through 15. Okay.

Okay, thanks. That's all really okay for now?

Yeah. Maybe one for. zero, go ahead. Sorry. With Mike Ewall, the guy online.

Sure. Mr. Ewall, are you still online?

Yes, I am sure.

Thank you for your testimony. Reading through the testimony and hearing you, I'm just curious if you have a tangible kind of solution to that leap in 2045 with 100% electrification, you know, recognizing geopolitical movements and power plays over rare earth materials that are at the basis of electrification.

Electrification, as well as this immediate jump to always, like, we don't have enough land for biofuels. But I don't see that anywhere in the Bill. It's really just, this is a jump start to help an industry start, just like solar continues to get to this day after a long assist from the state.

So I'm just curious for your position, how we're supposed to make that leap to 2045.

Right. So I share the skepticism that I hear, especially from Mr. Curtis, about whether we'll actually get to the goals in 2045. They're pretty ambitious.

And yet it is more ambitious to think that we're going to complete two industrial transitions and not have the first one prevent the second one in that same time frame, rather than go straight to where we need to be with the technologies in 2045.

So the critical materials that you're talking about, rare earth metals, is a big concern. Lithium mining. I hear some misconceptions. Some legislators think it's happening in ocean mining. That's not happening yet. It could, but there is still where lithium is mined and where materials come from. It's a legitimate concern.

And hopefully those will be by 2045 and much sooner, you know, there will be some better technologies for some of them and different materials that are safer and less damaging.

But the line that we draw between clean and dirty energy categorically is that if it's something that has to per unit of energy, keep producing pollution, anything that involves combustion, you have to have materials being manufactured, processed, burned up, and waste disposed of if it's producing an ash or something in certain cases.

And when you're talking about things that are wind, solar, storage, there's always the production of the machines itself. But once you create them, that continuing damage stops because you don't have the fuel itself. That has to create additional environmental harm to make it and burn it.

So that's why we rather leap to ultimate solutions that we're aiming for by 2045 in the sectors where we can do it, which is every sector except for flying to continents at this point.

Okay, so you don't have a plan then?

No one has a plan that would satisfy how are we going to do everything exactly by 2045? Even HDOT's plan is just dreadful. So no, I don't have any answers that anyone else doesn't have either.

We do know what is better than other options and that's why I'm saying pursuing SAF and so called clean fuels that are burnable is not the way to go.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Further questions?

If there are no additional questions, we're going to move on to the next measure, House Bill 2030, relating to transportation affordability; requires the Department of Transportation to establish a clean vehicle rebate program to provide rebates for the purchase or lease of new and used zero-emission vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Establishes a clean vehicle special fund. Beginning January 1st, 2027, establishes a transportation affordability and energy security tax. First to testify, we have the Hawaii Department of Taxation with comments, in person.

Good morning, again. Garrison Kurth, Department of Taxation. We'll stand on our testimony, and here for questions.

Thank you. Hawaii State Energy Office, in support, in person.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, members of the committee. Nicole Cernohorsky, on behalf of the Hawaii State Energy Office. We stand on our written testimony in support, and I'm available for any questions.

Thank you. County of Kauai, Christina Kayser, in support. We have Hawaii Youth Transportation Council, Luca Cuniberti, in support on Zoom. Not present. We have testimony in support from Carbon Cashback Hawaii, Ulupono Initiative, Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association, Kauai Climate Action Coalition, Climate Protectors Hawaii. My apologies. So the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association submitted testimony in opposition. Next to testify, we have Earthjustice, Isaac Moriwake, in support, in person.

Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair, committee members. Isaac Moriwake, Earthjustice, standing on our testimony in support of this measure, and just noting that we'd suggest a discrete language clarification to address a drafting wrinkle.

So in that provision, directing that the rebate shall be applied at the point of sale, which is the key part of this program, we would think it's-- we think it's cleaner to change the language on the manufacturer's suggested retail price to the final sale price.

So final sale price would be the cleaned up reference and-- yeah, I think that would be clearer and less ambiguous as to how this rebate should work. Mahalo. Available for any questions.

Thank you. Next we have Chris Caulfield, Imua Alliance, in support, in person. Not present. The Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, in support. Our Children's Trust, Deray Shin, in support, in person.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, members. In strong support, standing on our written testimony. I just wanted to highlight a few key parts of this bill that we're really excited about. This is one of the most intentional EV rebate bills because of its focus on affordability and equity.

So some of the pieces that I just want to emphasize is that, one, there are no remaining incentives for electric vehicles. On the affordability side, this rebate would not be accessible for people buying luxury EVs. There are also income limits to be eligible for the rebate.

There's an extra rebate for low and medium-income families, and we're recommending a threshold for the fee so that it will be really easy for new car purchasers to avoid it, and the rebates are also going to be inclusive for used EVs and plug-in hybrids. So those are just some of the many, many facets that are part of this bill that we're really excited about and we urge you to support. Thank you.

Thank you. We have Abigail Ramsden from Rivian, in support, and additionally, we have 41 individuals in support. Is there anyone who wishes to testify on this measure? Please come forward.

Aloha, Chair and Vice Chair and committee members. Laura Kaakua from Hawaii Department of Transportation. We did submit testimony in support on this measure. Apologies if it came in late and didn't make it into the packet, but the department does stand in support of the Clean Vehicle Rebate Program.

And I would just like to highlight, we are supporting all four measures before you today because they balance emissions reduction, affordability for local residents, and improving our local energy security, and I want to highlight that our Energy Security and Waste Reduction Plan found that we do need to implement additional policy changes if we want to even come close to reaching our 2030 and 2045 goals, and so that's why we are supporting all of these measures before you and requesting that the Legislature put in policies that will help us implement these programs to reduce emissions and be in compliance. Thank you.

Thank you. And maybe we can talk afterwards about your testimony because I'm not seeing it. Thank you.

Thank you.

Chair, Vice Chair, members of the committee, Tiffany Yajima, on behalf of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. I'm sorry that we also submitted late testimony. I have copies for the committee and we'll submit it.

We support the intent of this measure, but we do have concerns. We support section one of the-- or section two of the bill to establish the rebate on electric and hybrid vehicles, but we have concerns about what's typically known as a feebate for the fee on gasoline vehicles. Thank you.

Thank you.

Would you like me to turn it?

Yes, please. Thank you.

Thank you.

Be of service.

So is there anyone else wishing to testify on this measure? Seeing none. Members, are there any questions?

Give me a second to read this new testimony to see if I have questions. Okay. For SanHi, I guess.

She left.

Oh. Really? Okay. I don't have any questions then.

Okay. So-- you want to recess?

Yeah.

Okay. We're going to recess and then come back for decision-making. Recess.

All right, we are back for decision making on the 9:45am agenda. First up, we have House Bill 81986 relating to a clean fuel standard. So for this we will adopt the suggested amendments of the Hawaii Renewable Fuel Coalition. This already has a defective date so that's the only amendment and we'll move this forward. Members, any discussion? Great.

Seeing none.

Vice Chair House Bill 1986 HD1 Chairs recommendation is passed with amendments Chair and Vice Chair voting aye. Representative Chun, Aye. Representative Kahaloa, Aye. Representative Kush, Aye. Representative Quinlan Aye. Representative Matsumoto, reservations Chair recommendation has been adopted. Thank you.

And House Bill 1694 relating to sustainable aviation fuel tax credit we will adopt. All right, I just announced the wrong amendments. Hang on. Recess brief recession sa.

We're going to retake the vote on House Bill 1986 I just read from the wrong part on my notes. So for Hospital 1986 relating to a clean fuel standard we are just making technical amendments for clarity, consistency and style and moving this forward. Members, any discussion?

Seeing none Vice Chair House Bill 1986 HD One chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments Chair and Vice Chair voting aye. Representative Chun, Aye. Representative Kahaloa Aye. Representative Kush Aye. Representative Quinlan Aye Representative Watuodo, reservations Chair, your recommendation has been adopted.

Thank you. And then House Bill 1694 relating to sustainable aviation fuel tax credit for this we will adopt the suggested amendments of the Hawaii Renewable Fuel Coalition. So this is not allowing double dipping between the tax credits.

That is the only amendment But I will express that the Committee has some concerns about this tax credit and whether it would have a substantial impact on us meeting our goals or not. So with that we will move it forward. Vice Chair my Members, any discussion? If not Vice Chair, please take the vote.

House Bill 1694 HD One chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments Are there any nos or reservations? Seegnan Charity recommendation has been adopted

for House Bill 1695 relating to renewable fuel. We have a number of amendments here so we will adopt the amendment of the State Energy Office to clarify the definition of renewable fuels. We will adopt DOFTAC suggested amendments for section 235.110.32, subsection A.

We will clarify that HSEO is the administering authority to address Dotak's concerns about administering caps and allocations. We will adopt the Renewable Fuels Coalition amendments. From their testimony, we will add a provision similar to the prior Bill to make sure there's no double dipping between tax Credits.

On page 5, lines 12 to 16, we will reinstate the cap here, but blank out the amount for now. And section 23511032 subsection D3. We will also add back HSEO here to have them oversee the or I guess verify the greenhouse gas emission reduction data is already defective.

So with that, we will move this Bill forward. Members, any discussion?

Seeing none. Vice Chair on House Bill 1695, HD one chair's recommendation is passed with amendments. Chair and Vice Chair voting aye. Are there any nos or reservations? Seeing none. Charity recommendation has been adopted.

Thank you. And for House Bill 2030 relating to transportation affordability, we will make some technical amendments for clarity, consistency and style. On page 7, line 8, we will change the reference to MSRP to final sales price.

We will add a provision so that a car below a certain dollar amount of sale price will be exempt from this fee. And we'll leave that amount blank for now, but basically so that a more affordable model Ayes car will not have to pay this fee.

And then on page 14 and the top of page 15, we will blank out these miles per gallon references while we work on figuring out the right numbers for those. And the date is already defective. So with that, we will move this forward. Members, any discussion? Seeing none.

Vice Chair, please take the vote on House Bill 2030. HD1 chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Chair and Vice Chair voting aye. Are there any nos or reservations? Reservation from Representative Matsumoto Chair recommendation has been adopted.

And then last we have House Bill 1673. We're bringing this back for diem from a prior hearing relating to landfill units. So after some back and forth, I think we've decided that everyone is more comfortable with just keeping existing law. So we're going to defer this Bill at this time and we are adjourned.