HB 175 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO PROPERTY MAINTENANCE.

Summary

Requires owners or lessees of real property to maintain their property and establish penalties for failure to do so. Allows for exceptions. Requires DOA to establish rules for the enforcement and collection of fines for violations relating to the proliferation of invasive species. Requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to adopt rules for the enforcement and collection of fines for violations relating to the prevention of wildfires and other public safety hazards. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 14, 2025 Last action Mar 20, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB175 → HB175_HD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to clarify that only property owners or lessees are responsible for maintenance, removing managers from liability. It expanded the definition of prohibited vegetation to include species listed as noxious, restricted, or prohibited by authorities. Enforcement responsibilities were split: the Department of Agriculture handles invasive species rules, while the Office of the State Fire Marshal handles wildfire prevention rules. The effective date was set to July 1, 3000, and the bill title was updated to reflect these specific enforcement agencies.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed regarding liability by removing 'managers' from the list of responsible parties, and enforcement authority was specifically assigned to the Department of Agriculture and the Office of the State Fire Marshal based on the type of hazard.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed 'managers' from the list of parties responsible for property maintenance, limiting liability to owners and lessees only.

REQUIREMENT

Expanded the list of prohibited vegetation to explicitly include species already designated as noxious, restricted, or prohibited by county, state, or federal authorities.

ENFORCEMENT

Assigned rule-making authority for invasive species to the Department of Agriculture and for wildfire prevention to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

TIMELINE

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

DEFINITION

Updated the bill title to specify that the Department of Agriculture and Office of the State Fire Marshal are the enforcing agencies.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WLA/AEN/PSM has scheduled a public hearing on 03-20-26 2:15PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Re-Referred to WLA/AEN/PSM, JDC.

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Referred to WTL/AEN/PSM, JDC.

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 196).

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Pierick, Ward excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 14 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Holt, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lamosao, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Templo, Alcos, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Hussey, Ward.

lower

Feb 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Matayoshi, Poepoe, Ward excused (4).

lower

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 733), recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Kahaloa, Perruso, Takayama, Todd, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran, Hashem.

lower

Feb 4, 2025

Committee

Reported from WAL (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 55) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Jan 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on WAL recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Hashem, Lamosao, Belatti, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Morikawa, Poepoe, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Woodson.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to WAL, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 16, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 14, 2025

Introduced

Prefiled.

lower

17 primary · 0 co-sponsors