SB 20 provides funding to continue the Green Jobs Youth Corps program, administered by the Department of Land and Natural Resources. This bill directly affects young participants in the program, who gain work experience in environmental conservation and sustainability projects. The key mechanism is allocating state funds to maintain the program's operations, including job training and fieldwork opportunities for youth. The bill does not create new policies but ensures ongoing support for an existing initiative focused on environmental stewardship and youth employment.
HB 318 authorizes Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources to operate and approve conservation banks, which are protected land reserves where developers can purchase credits to offset environmental impacts from construction projects. The bill establishes a state-managed system for creating and verifying these conservation areas, directly affecting landowners who might establish banks and developers who need to comply with environmental mitigation requirements. Key provisions require the department to set standards for bank approval, monitor conservation outcomes, and ensure credits accurately represent habitat protection. This policy change would formalize the state's role in overseeing conservation banking as a tool for balancing development with habitat preservation. The bill is currently pending in the 2026 legislative session.
Authorizes the Department of Land and Natural Resources to close all or portions of any marine life conservation district for various periods of time and to adopt rules for the regulation of commercial activity within a marine life conservation district.
Authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to approve the operation of conservation banks and amends the Endangered Species Recovery Committee's membership and scope of authority. Effective upon approval.
Amends conservation and resources law to prohibit: (1) Commercial sales of parrotfish that have been caught by spearing; and (2) The spearing of parrotfish in state waters after sunset or before sunrise.
Authorizes the use of conservation banks for compensatory mitigation in a habitat conservation plan and associated incidental take license. Amends the membership and scope of authority for the Endangered Species Recovery Committee.
Authorizes the Department of Land and Natural Resources and certain public or private entities to operate conservation banks, subject to approval from the Board of Land and Natural Resources, for situations where a person or entity is required to provide compensatory mitigation to offset adverse impacts to threatened, endangered, candidate, or proposed species as part of an approved incidental take license and habitat conservation plan. Adds the Associate Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ecosystems Mission Area, to the membership of the Endangered Species Recovery Committee. Requires the Endangered Species Recovery Committee to review applications and proposals for conservation banks and conduct subsequent reviews and oversight. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
Replaces the current statutory prohibition on private shoreline hardening with a policy directing the minimization of these structures. Establishes a clear, time-limited statutory framework for emergency permits within the conservation district, including defined standards for permit duration and extension.
HB 1988 prohibits the commercial harvesting of aquatic life (such as fish and marine organisms) for use in the aquarium trade, regardless of the collection method. This bill directly affects businesses and suppliers in the commercial aquarium industry that rely on harvesting live aquatic species. The key provision bans all forms of harvesting for this specific purpose, with no exceptions outlined in the abstract. It represents a direct environmental protection measure targeting a specific commercial practice. The bill is currently in early committee review stages.
Authorizes the Department of Land and Natural Resources and certain public or private entities to seek the approval of the Board of Land and Natural Resources to operate conservation banks for situations where a person or entity is required to provide compensatory mitigation to offset adverse impacts to threatened, endangered, candidate, or proposed species as part of an approved incidental take license and habitat conservation plan. Adds the associate director of the United States Geological Survey, Ecosystem Mission Area, to the membership of the Endangered Species Recovery Committee. Requires the Endangered Species Recovery Committee to review applications and proposals for conservation banks and conservation bank instruments conduct subsequent reviews and oversight. (CD1)
