HB 1979 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.

Summary

Shortens the period during which certain judicial proceedings involving environmental assessments and environmental impact statements on actions that propose the use of land for, or construction of, affordable housing or clean energy projects must be initiated. Specifies that appeals from environmental courts that involve actions that propose the use of land for, or construction of, affordable housing or clean energy projects meet one of the grounds for transfer to the Supreme Court. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD3)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Mar 20, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1979_HD2 → HB1979_HD3 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was renumbered from HD2 to HD3 and updated with new dates, reflecting its progression through the legislative process. The core policy text regarding environmental court appeals and attorney's fees for affordable housing and clean energy projects remains substantively unchanged, though minor formatting adjustments were made to the legal definitions and report title.

TECHNICAL

Bill number changed from HD2 to HD3 to reflect the current version in the legislative session.

Minor formatting adjustments were made to the text of Section 343-7 and the report title, including adding 'the' before 'sun' and reordering the list of topics.

TIMELINE

Internal document dates were updated to reflect the new version's creation and review timestamps.

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 AEN/WLA/EIG has scheduled a public hearing on 03-20-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to AEN/WLA/EIG, JDC.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 333).

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 3 with Representative(s) Shimizu voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Amato, Cochran, Grandinetti, Hussey, Iwamoto, Perruso, Poepoe voting no (7) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Kahaloa, Takayama; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Garcia, Shimizu; 2 Noes: Representative(s) Poepoe, Cochran; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti, Hashem, Sayama.

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on JHA as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Amato, Cochran, Garcia, Muraoka, Perruso, Poepoe voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported from HSG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 580-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HSG recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Evslin, Miyake, Kila, Kitagawa, La Chica, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Cochran, Grandinetti, Muraoka; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 5, 2026

Committee

Reported from EEP (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 28-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to HSG.

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on EEP recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Lowen, Perruso, Chun, Kahaloa, Kusch, Quinlan, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

Referred to EEP, HSG, JHA, referral sheet 3

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

11 primary · 0 co-sponsors