SB 2987 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO LIGHT POLLUTION.

SB 2987 establishes statewide requirements for outdoor lighting fixtures beginning July 1, 2027. The bill directly affects property owners, businesses, and municipalities that install or maintain outdoor lighting across the state. It mandates specific standards for fixture design and light direction to reduce unnecessary illumination, without specifying exact technical measures in the provided abstract. The legislation aims to address light pollution through standardized outdoor lighting practices.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Mar 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB2987 → SB2987_SD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill was amended to shift from a House bill to a Senate bill, updating the author and internal tracking numbers. The substantive policy content remains focused on reducing light pollution by setting new standards for outdoor lighting, though the text was reorganized to improve clarity and consistency. The effective date for the new lighting requirements is set to July 1, 2050, which is significantly later than the original 2027 date, likely to allow for a longer transition period for municipalities to update their codes.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding the specific lighting requirements and exemptions appears unchanged, but the text was restructured to merge definitions and clarify the relationship between subsections. The applicability to specific counties and the definition of 'County' were moved to a new section for better organization.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new outdoor light fixture requirements was changed from July 1, 2027, to July 1, 2050, providing a much longer timeframe for implementation.

REQUIREMENT

The text was reorganized to consolidate definitions (such as 'County', 'Glare', and 'Light trespass') into a single new section and to renumber subsections for logical flow, correcting references from 'subsection (c)' to '(b)' in some instances.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting and phrasing adjustments were made, such as changing 'residential uses' to 'residential users' and updating the description of the DLC LUNA list to ensure consistency throughout the document.

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

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to WAL, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 16

lower

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 94) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Mar 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 21; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 3 (Senator(s) Awa, DeCorte, Fevella). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Ihara). Transmitted to House.

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Richards, Wakai; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 02-25-26 10:57AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDT/EIG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2381) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDT were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai, Fukunaga, Kim; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EIG recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EIG were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Wakai, Chang, DeCoite; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Richards, Fevella.

upper

Feb 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT/EIG has scheduled a public hearing on 02-12-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDT/EIG, WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

5 primary · 0 co-sponsors