| Hawai`i State
Legislature 2008 |
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| Bill
Number |
Who
It Benefits |
Who
It Hurts |
Bill
Excerpts |
Status |
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| HB 2863 |
Castle and
Cooke: HB 2863 covers only renewable energy facilities that are 200MW or larger and their associated transmission lines. Only one such entity exists in the State. The proposed Castle and Cooke 300 MW wind farm on Lanai with an undersea transmission line to O`ahu. The Governor: DBEDT shall meet with the applicant before the applicant files for a permit, shall approve all state and county permits in one consolidated streamlined permit, will only hold a public hearing if mandated by federal law, will process the application concurrent to accepting the EIS. Contested cases are not permitted. PUC retains one right which is not relevant. |
The Counties: The Bill allows DBEDT to pre-empt all county laws rules and regulations. The Public: It strips the public of virtually all forms of public participation and the right to contested case hearings. |
"Renewable energy facility" or
"facility" means a facility located in the State that is planned to
have the capacity to produce from renewable energy at least two hundred
megawatts of electricity. The term includes any ... energy transmission
line from the facility to a public utility's electricity distribution
system ... The [DBEDT] coordinator shall: ... Accept a consolidated
application ... for the approval of the siting, development,
construction, and operation of a renewable energy facility ... Identify
all state and county permits necessary for approval of the renewable
energy facility ... The coordinator shall establish a consolidated
application ... the coordinator ... shall determine the terms and
conditions to be imposed on the state permits to protect the public
health and safety and promote the general welfare ... The coordinator
shall make the determination for all county permits ... The coordinator
shall have ten days after receipt of the notification from the county
agency to determine whether to accept or reject the amended terms and
conditions of the county permit. ... If the coordinator rejects all or
some of the amended terms and conditions, the coordinator shall approve
the county permit with terms and conditions that exclude the rejected
amendments ... state or county agency shall not be required to hold the
public hearing unless required to do so by federal law ... all
necessary state and county permits for which have been approved under
this chapter, shall be deemed a permitted principal use on the land
parcel upon which it is situated. The land use commission, department
of land and natural resources, and the relevant county shall revise any
state land use district map and county zoning map appropriately to
reflect this status ... Nothing in this chapter or chapter 343 shall
prohibit the review and processing by the coordinator of applications
for permits for a renewable energy facility concurrently with the
preparation and processing by the applicant of an environmental impact
statement for the facility ... Any person aggrieved by the approval of
a state or county permit or term or condition of any approved permit
may file an action for relief in the circuit court ... The
inapplicability of the use of contested case procedures pursuant to
chapter 91 in the approval of any state or county permit pursuant to
this chapter shall not be grounds for any judicial appeal ... The
provisions of this chapter shall supersede any conflicting state or
county law ... Contested case does not apply to the review, processing,
or approval of state or county permits for any renewable energy
facility under chapter . |
Introduced by Governor Current Referral:
EEP/WLH, CPC, FIN
Next Hearing EEP/WLH on Thursday, 01-31-08 at 10:00 am in House conference room 312 |
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