HB 1984 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Summary

By 7/1/2027, requires government entities in the State that issue building permits to establish a self‑certification process for certain behind‑the‑meter, customer‑sited solar distributed energy resource systems that deems permit applications approved and allows applicants to proceed to build solar distributed energy resource systems immediately. Requires government entities in the State that issue building permits to develop guidance for determining specific conditions when a Federal Emergency Management Agency-mandated No-Rise Certification is not required for a solar distributed energy resource system located in a regulatory floodway. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Energy ✓ Environment

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Mar 24, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1984_HD2 → HB1984_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill update shifts the document version from House Draft 2 to Senate Draft 1, updating administrative metadata and dates. The core policy change adds a liability shield, protecting the state and local governments from lawsuits regarding damages caused by solar projects approved through the new self-certification process. Additionally, the bill clarifies that the self-certification process is only available for smaller solar systems, explicitly excluding projects larger than 250 kilowatts.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed regarding eligibility; the self-certification process is now restricted to solar systems with a generating capacity of 250 kilowatts or less, excluding larger commercial-scale projects.

LIABILITY

Added a provision stating that the state and government entities are not liable for damages resulting from solar projects installed under the self-certification process.

ELIGIBILITY

Added a specific threshold stating that solar projects with a generating capacity greater than 250 kilowatts are ineligible for the self-certification process.

TEXT

Updated the bill header and metadata to reflect the transition from House Draft 2 to Senate Draft 1, including updated dates and version numbers.

Floor votes

How they voted

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

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to CPN/WAM.

upper

Mar 24, 2026

Committee

Reported from EIG/GVO (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3162) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to CPN/WAM.

upper

Mar 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EIG recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EIG were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Wakai, Chang, DeCoite, Richards; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Mar 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on GVO recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in GVO were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) McKelvey, Gabbard, Hashimoto, Moriwaki, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EIG/GVO has scheduled a public hearing on 03-17-26 3:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to EIG/GVO, CPN/WAM.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 334).

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with Representative(s) Garcia, Iwamoto voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Mar 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Chun, Ilagan, Ichiyama, Kong, Lowen, Marten, Tam; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Iwamoto; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Pierick.

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on CPC as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Garcia, Shimizu voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1).

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from WAL (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 713-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to CPC.

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on WAL recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Hashem, Morikawa, Belatti, Ichiyama, Woodson, Souza; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Iwamoto, Shimizu; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Poepoe.

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Committee

Reported from EEP (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 81-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to WAL.

lower

Feb 5, 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, WAL, CPC, referral sheet 3

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

12 primary · 0 co-sponsors