Bill > HB651

This bill establishes a comprehensive framework for conservation banking in Hawaii, allowing the Department of Land and Natural Resources to operate and approve conservation banks as a mechanism for protecting threatened, endangered, candidate, and proposed species. Conservation banks are sites designed to restore, create, enhance, or protect species habitats by generating "credits" that can be used as compensatory mitigation for projects that might negatively impact these species. The bill defines key terms like "credit," "credit bundling," and "credit stacking," and outlines detailed requirements for establishing a conservation bank, including the need for a resource management plan, performance standards, monitoring requirements, and long-term management strategies. Bank sponsors (which can be public or private entities) must demonstrate scientific competence, provide financial assurances, and submit annual reports. The bill also amends the Endangered Species Recovery Committee's responsibilities to include reviewing and making recommendations about conservation bank applications, and removes the director of the U.S. Geological Survey's Biological Resources Division from the committee's membership, replacing them with the associate director of the USGS Ecosystem Mission Area. The legislation aims to provide more predictable and efficient mitigation processes for projects that might impact endangered species while ensuring long-term habitat protection.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=651&year=2026