HB 1673 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO LANDFILL UNITS.

Summary

Repeals the prohibition on the construction, modification, or expansion of a landfill unit, or any component of a landfill unit, inland of an underground injection control line in a county with a population greater than five hundred thousand. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 20, 2026 Last action Feb 19, 2026

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What changed between versions

HB1673 → HB1673_HD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill fundamentally reverses a previous prohibition on building new landfills in specific areas of Honolulu. Instead of banning construction inland of underground injection control lines starting in 2026, the new version repeals that ban and sets a distant future effective date of July 1, 3000. It also adds a new requirement for all landfills to maintain a one-half-mile buffer zone around them.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from prohibiting landfill construction in a specific 'no-pass zone' to repealing that prohibition entirely, thereby allowing the Board of Water Supply to approve facilities in those areas based on their own criteria.

REQUIREMENT

Removed the ban on constructing, modifying, or expanding landfills inland of underground injection control lines in counties with over 500,000 people.

Added a new requirement that all landfill units must have a buffer zone of at least one-half mile around them.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date of the Act from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000.

DEFINITION

Reorganized statutory definitions, removing the specific 'no-pass zone' definition and replacing the prohibition section with a general permit requirement.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 9, 2026

Committee

Reported from WAL (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 98-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to EEP.

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on WAL recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Hashem, Morikawa, Belatti, Ichiyama, Poepoe, Woodson, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Iwamoto; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to WAL, EEP, JHA, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 20, 2026

Introduced

Prefiled.

lower

5 primary · 1 co-sponsor