HB 1749 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO CESSPOOLS.

Summary

Beginning 1/1/2027, requires sellers to provide buyers with a cesspool disclosure form before the execution of a real estate purchase contract. Establishes standards for the cesspool disclosure form by 11/1/2026. Establishes penalties. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD1)

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2026 Last action Apr 20, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1749_HD2 → HB1749_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from a House Draft (HD2) to a Senate Draft (SD1), resulting in a significant reordering of the statute's sections. The most substantive change is the repositioning of the ambiguity rule: in the House version, it was a standalone subsection (e) exempting sellers from record checks, while in the Senate version, it is embedded within subsection (a) as a condition for determining flood hazard status. Additionally, the Senate draft removed the specific requirement for a 'good faith examination' of records in the penalty clause and slightly adjusted the language regarding the development of the standardized disclosure form.

Scope change

The scope of applicability regarding the 'ambiguity rule' changed; it is now explicitly tied to the determination of whether a property lies within a designated hazard area rather than standing as a separate exemption from record-checking duties.

REQUIREMENT

The ambiguity rule regarding flood hazard boundaries was moved from a standalone subsection to be read as part of the initial hazard area definitions.

The specific instruction requiring sellers to make a 'good faith examination' of records before concluding a property does not have a cesspool was removed from the penalty clause.

The language requiring the Department of Health and Real Estate Commission to develop a 'standardized' disclosure form was changed to require the form itself without the explicit 'standardized' adjective.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was restructured from a House Draft format to a Senate Draft format, including changes to section numbering and the order of statutory provisions.

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

Amendments

Apr 16, 2026

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 14, 2026

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 618) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Apr 14, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Apr 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in CPN were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, Lamosao, McKelvey; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa.

upper

Apr 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 11 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C., Richards.

upper

Apr 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN/WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-07-26 10:30AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Committee

Reported from AEN/HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3241) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to CPN/WAM.

upper

Mar 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Mar 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, McKelvey, Kanuha, Keohokalole; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Mar 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on AEN/HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-23-26 1:30PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to AEN/HHS, CPN/WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 44).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Alcos.

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1).

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 673-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Chun, Ilagan, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Kong, Lowen, Marten, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Tam.

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Committee

Reported from EEP (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 14-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CPC.

lower

Jan 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on EEP recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Lowen, Perruso, Kahaloa, Kusch, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Chun, Quinlan.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to EEP, CPC, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Pending Introduction

lower

27 primary · 0 co-sponsors