HCR 149 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO ASSESS ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSERVATION INITIATIVES NEEDED TO TRANSITION VOLCANO, HAWAII, INTO A BIOSPHERE AREA THAT PROMOTES ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND COMMUNITY WELL-BEING AND COMPLEMENTS THE NEIGHBORING HAWAIIAN ISLANDS BIOSPHERE RESERVE.

HCR 149 is a concurrent resolution requesting Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources to form a working group focused on transitioning Volcano, Hawaii, into a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The working group, chaired by the State Representative from House District 5 and including a Volcano Community Association representative, must assess environmental initiatives needed to address local challenges like invasive species and forest degradation. Key tasks include developing native forest stewardship practices, creating community education strategies, establishing monitoring systems, and identifying conservation buffer zones. The group must submit a final report with recommendations to the Legislature and Hawaii County Council by early 2026. This resolution does not create new laws but initiates an assessment process to align Volcano with the existing Hawaiian Islands Biosphere Reserve.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Sub-Topics: Forestry

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 7, 2025 Last action Apr 4, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HCR149 → HCR149_HD1 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from a traditional legislative document to a digital template format, with significant substantive changes to the working group composition and membership. The original version included extensive lists of required members from various government agencies and community organizations, while the new version significantly reduces the working group to just two members: the State Representative from House District 5 as Chair and one representative from the Volcano Community Association to be invited by the Chair.

Scope change

The scope of the working group was substantially narrowed from a multi-agency collaborative effort to a minimal two-person group, reducing the breadth of stakeholder representation.

REQUIREMENT

Working group composition changed from 19 specified members including multiple government agencies and community organizations to just 2 members (State Representative from HD-5 as Chair and one Volcano Community Association representative).

Removed requirement for Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairperson to serve as working group Chair.

Removed invitation requirements for numerous federal, state, county, and private organization representatives including USDA, Forest Service, National Park Service, Hawaii County officials, and various community groups.

Added requirement to transmit certified copy of resolution to President of Volcano Community Association Board of Directors.

TECHNICAL

Document format changed from traditional legislative text to digital template format with metadata headers and timestamps.

Corrected grammatical error in WHEREAS clause from 'was a United Nations' to 'were a United Nations' (plural agreement).

Floor votes · House Apr 3, 2025

How they voted

48–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 50

Apr 3, 2025

D Democratic41

40 Yea 1

97% Yea

R Republican9

8 Yea 1

88% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 4, 2025

Committee

Referred to WTL/AEN.

upper

Apr 4, 2025

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 538).

upper

Apr 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

Adopted as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Woodson excused (2).

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported from EEP (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1893) as amended in HD 1, recommending adoption.

lower

Apr 1, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on EEP recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Lowen, Perruso, Kahaloa, Kusch; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Quinlan.

lower

Mar 21, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to EEP, referral sheet 25

lower

Mar 14, 2025

Committee

Referred to WAL/EEP, referral sheet 22

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Introduced

Offered

lower

4 primary · 0 co-sponsors