HB 2334 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.

Summary

Authorizes the Department of Transportation to assume responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for highway projects, as well as railroad, public transportation, or multimodal projects within the State, allowing streamlined environmental reviews. Provides a limited waiver of sovereign immunity to comply with federal requirements. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Transportation

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 26, 2026 Last action Feb 19, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB2334 → HB2334_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to update the bill number and metadata, correct minor grammatical phrasing in the legislative findings, and most significantly, change the effective date from 'upon approval' to a specific future date of July 1, 3000. These changes adjust when the new transportation environmental review rules and sovereign immunity waivers officially begin.

Scope change

The substantive scope of the bill regarding the Department of Transportation's authority remains unchanged; only the effective date and minor text were modified.

TIMELINE

The effective date was changed from 'upon approval' to 'July 1, 3000', setting a specific future start date for the new provisions.

TECHNICAL

Minor grammatical adjustments were made to the legislative findings section for clarity.

The bill title and internal metadata were updated to reflect the House of Delegates version (HD1).

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on JHA with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported from EEP (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 588-26), recommending referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on EEP recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Lowen, Perruso, Chun, Kahaloa, Kusch, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Quinlan.

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Committee

Reported from TRN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 88-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to EEP.

lower

Feb 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on TRN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Kila, Miyake, Cochran, Evslin, Grandinetti, Kitagawa, La Chica, Muraoka; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Pierick.

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to TRN, EEP, JHA, referral sheet 6

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors