RELATING TO INSURANCE.

The core mechanism shifted from conditioning insurance rates on subrogation claims (a regulatory requirement) to creating a new civil cause of action for insurers to sue responsible parties directly. This changes the bill from a rate-regulation tool to a tort-like liability framework.

A new savings clause (Section 4) explicitly states the Act does not replace legally mandated or court-ordered disaster recovery funds, does not relieve liability under other laws, and does not preempt rights related to deception about fossil fuels, damage from fossil fuels' role in climate change, or failure to avoid climate-related damage including nuisance, trespass, negligence, and failure to warn claims.

The bill now allows both the Hawaii Property Insurance Association AND private insurers to bring civil actions, whereas the original only required HPIA to file subrogation claims. This significantly broadens who can initiate litigation under the Act.

A new section 431:13-___ is added establishing civil liability for responsible parties, including: a $10,000 minimum qualifying damages threshold (with aggregation allowed), a jurisdictional requirement that the responsible party did business in Hawaii since 1950, a 3-year discovery-based statute of limitations, and joint and several strict liability.

HPIA plan of operation now includes: a 60-month maximum eligibility period for high-rise condominiums; detailed coverage form and rate tier requirements; provisions authorizing HPIA to decline coverage; potential annual premium rate increases; requirements for applicants to provide condominium association documents and complete inspections; authority to prohibit coverage for high-rise condos with material maintenance issues; and repayment procedures for general fund moneys loaned to the reserve trust fund.

Seven new definitions are added: climate disaster (five qualifying categories including federally declared disasters, catastrophic incidents, NCEI billion-dollar events, states of emergency, and events with aggregate carrier losses exceeding $100 million), extreme event attribution science, extreme weather attributable to climate change, fossil fuel product, impact attribution science, qualifying damages, and responsible party.

Twelve specific defenses are barred, including: ignorance of law, unconstitutionality claims, reliance on reversed or non-binding court decisions, nonmutual issue or claim preclusion, third-party constitutional rights, federal/state displacement arguments, choice-of-law or forum clauses, assumption of risk, and forum non conveniens. The state is prohibited from enforcing or intervening in actions under this section.

Standing is granted to any person who suffers an injury in fact from a climate disaster or extreme weather event attributable to climate change, where the connection between the policyholder's damages and the event and the insurer's payment for those damages is deemed an injury in fact.

HPIA rate requirements changed from accounting for 'proceeds obtained from subrogation claims' to accounting for 'any proceeds obtained from any civil action against a responsible party.' If HPIA does not exercise its rights, it must submit a report to the commissioner comparing actual rates with rates that would have applied had it fully recovered losses.

Effective date changed from 'upon approval' to 'July 1, 3000,' a placeholder date that effectively prevents the law from taking effect until future legislation amends it.