HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2298

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT.

 

 

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

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the case of Unite Here! Local 5 v. The City and County of Honolulu examined environmental impact statements and whether or not approved environmental impact statements have expiration dates.  The Hawaii supreme court ruled against the assumptions that an environmental impact statement is indefinitely valid once completed and approved for a project, and that there is no time sensitivity as to the actual start and end date of the proposed project.  The legislature further finds that many large scale projects that require an environmental impact statement take years longer than initially anticipated and go beyond the time period of potential impacts examined in the environmental impact statement.  Although state law lacks an explicit time frame of validity for an environmental impact statement, section 11-200-26, Hawaii Administrative Rules, requires a supplemental environmental impact statement when a project with an approved environmental impact statement has changed substantively in size, scope, intensity, use, location, or timing.  The legislature finds that while a supplemental environmental impact statement may ensure consideration of an action that is essentially different from the action proposed under the original environmental impact statement, the drafting, submission, and approval of a supplemental environmental impact statement adds costs to projects that are often already expensive.  Therefore, the legislature concludes that establishment of an explicit time frame of validity for an environmental impact statement, in combination with mandatory community involvement during periods of construction delay, will ensure that an environmental impact statement does not go stale, without need for triggering a costly supplemental environmental impact statement in every situation.

     The purpose of this Act is to require, for any proposed action involving construction for which an environmental impact statement has been accepted by an agency but for which construction has not commenced within five years of acceptance of the statement, the developer of the construction project to exercise due diligence and hold community discussion and feedback sessions to share relevant and new information surrounding the project.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 343, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§343-    Delayed construction; community involvement.  If an environmental impact statement for a proposed action involving construction has been accepted by an agency in satisfaction of the requirements of this chapter but construction has not commenced within five years of the date of acceptance of the statement, the developer of the construction project shall:

     (1)  Exercise due diligence with respect to any changes in the community where the project is planned, including but not limited to community population changes, zoning changes, compatibility with land use plans, and secondary effects on the community, such as changes in traffic flow or visual blight; and

     (2)  Hold community discussion and feedback sessions in which relevant and newly discovered information surrounding the project, including social, environmental, and economic concerns, shall be shared with the community in which the project is being constructed."

     SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on January 28, 2045.


 


 

Report Title:

Environmental Impact Statement; Delayed Construction; Community Discussion and Feedback Sessions

 

Description:

Requires, for any proposed action involving construction for which an environmental impact statement has been accepted by an agency but for which construction has not commenced within five years of acceptance of the statement, the developer of the construction project to exercise due diligence with respect to any changes in the community where the project is planned and requires developers to hold community discussion and feedback sessions to discuss relevant and new concerns regarding the project.  (HB2298 HD1)

 

 

 

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