SB 1178 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO CARBON SEQUESTRATION INCENTIVES.

SB 1178 makes Hawaii’s Carbon Smart Land Management Assistance Program permanent, providing ongoing state support for landowners who manage forests, agricultural land, or other natural areas to absorb carbon dioxide. The program, administered by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, directly benefits landowners by offering technical and financial assistance for practices that enhance carbon sequestration. This bill codifies existing temporary support into law, ensuring consistent funding and guidance for climate-friendly land management without creating new requirements or altering current eligibility rules.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Last action Feb 20, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB1178 → SB1178_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill version updates the legislative metadata to reflect a Senate Draft 1 status and changes the bill's primary goal from extending a pilot program to making it permanent. The most significant policy change is the extension of the program's effective date from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050, ensuring long-term stability for carbon sequestration incentives. Additionally, the appropriation section was modified to remove specific funding amounts for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, focusing the budget request on the 2026-2027 period.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a temporary pilot program with a sunset date to a permanent legislative program, with the effective date pushed back by nearly five decades to 2050.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050, to align with the permanent status of the program.

FISCAL

Specific appropriation amounts for fiscal year 2025-2026 were removed, leaving only the funding request for fiscal year 2026-2027.

REQUIREMENT

The legislative findings were updated to change the language from extending a pilot program to making it permanent.

TECHNICAL

Metadata fields including author names, revision numbers, and document templates were updated to reflect the Senate Draft 1 status.

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

Feb 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from WLA/AEN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2617) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WLA recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WLA were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Lee, C., Chang, Lamosao, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Inouye ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WLA/AEN has scheduled a public hearing on 02-11-26 1:00PM; CR 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 21, 2026

Committee

Re-Referred to WLA/AEN, WAM.

upper

Jan 27, 2025

Committee

Referred to WTL/AEN, WAM.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

3 primary · 0 co-sponsors