Bill Text: HI SB2644 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Electrical Contractors.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-06-17 - Act 068, on 06/17/2022 (Gov. Msg. No. 1168). [SB2644 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-SB2644-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2644 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii has an aging electrical infrastructure. According to the American Society of Civil Engineer's 2019 Hawaii Infrastructure Report Card, outages in Hawaii are mainly caused by equipment deterioration, cable faults, automobile accidents, or vegetation. Although significant capital investments have been made to upgrade and strengthen utility poles, lines, and equipment against the increasingly frequent severe storms in recent years, over half of the existing infrastructure is more than forty years old and soon will be approaching the end of its expected life cycle. The security and resilience of Hawaii's critical electrical infrastructure are fundamental to the health and welfare of the State's residents, visitors, and employees. Recent weather events have further highlighted the importance of a resilient electrical grid and the restoration of electricity in a safe and efficient manner.
The legislature further finds that the construction and maintenance of overhead and underground high voltage power lines with distribution and transmission voltages require the specialized skills of electrical workers, such as journeymen linemen, foremen, and general foreman, who are all trained and certified journeyman lineman. To address the need for individuals qualified to work with high voltage power lines, the legislature enacted Act 65, Session Laws of Hawaii 2013 (Act 65), which provided a limited exemption from electrician licensing requirements for individuals employed by electrical contractors who are retained by a public utility within the State to perform high voltage work for the public utility and who are deemed qualified by the public utility. Although the legislature later extended the law for five more years through Act 60, Session Laws of 2018 (Act 60), Act 60 sunsets on June 30, 2023. Continued maintenance due to aging electrical infrastructure is needed to keep Hawaii's grid resilient. The legislature also finds that as Hawaii continues to experience a shortage of electricians, splicers, and linemen in the State who are experienced and qualified to work with high voltage, it is necessary to make permanent the limited exemption from licensing requirements for electricians.
The purpose of this Act is to make permanent:
(1) Act 65, provided that public utilities also certify to the director of labor and industrial relations and to the board of electricians and plumbers that, after a hiring call, no electrician sufficiently qualified and licensed in the State to perform high voltage (six hundred volts or higher) electrical work applied to timely perform or complete the necessary job or task before the public utility recruited outside the State; and
(2) The requirement for the board of electricians and plumbers to submit to the legislature reports relating to high voltage work.
SECTION 2. Section 448E-13, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§448E-13 Exemption of public
utility and community antennae television company personnel[.]; annual reports to the legislature. (a)
The following persons shall be exempt from this chapter:
(1) All employees of a public utility within the State under a franchise or charter granted by the State, which is regulated by the public utilities commission and community antennae television company, while so employed; and
(2) Employees of an electrical contractor duly licensed under chapter 444; provided that:
(A) [Such] The
contractor is retained by a public utility within the State under a franchise
or charter granted by the State, which is regulated by the public
utilities commission to perform high voltage [(six hundred volts or higher)]
electrical work for the public utility; [and]
(B) The
public utility shall certify to the director of labor and industrial relations and
to the board of electricians and plumbers that, after a hiring call, no electrician
sufficiently qualified and licensed in the State to perform high voltage electrical
work applied to timely perform or complete the necessary job or task before the
public utility recruited outside the State; and
[(B)] (C) [Such] The
employees are deemed qualified by the public utility to perform such high
voltage electrical work;
provided further that in no
circumstance shall [such] the persons be less qualified than the
public utility's own employees that perform [such] high voltage
electrical work[.]; and provided further that for purposes of this section,
"high voltage" means six hundred volts or higher.
(b)
Persons retained by a public utility pursuant to [[]subsection[]]
(a)(2) shall be exempt from the provisions of section 444-9.5.
(c) The board of electricians and plumbers shall
submit reports to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the
convening of each regular session. The reports
shall include but not be limited to the following:
(1) Any programs in
the State that offer vocational training for licensed electricians to perform
high voltage electrical work;
(2) Availability of
continuing education, training, or both, necessary for licensed electricians to
acquire or keep current those skills related to performing high voltage work;
(3) The number of
licensed electricians in the State qualified to perform high voltage electrical
work; and
(4) Opportunities for growth in the high voltage work subspecialty."
SECTION 3. Act 65, Session Laws of Hawaii 2013, section 4, as amended by Act 60, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, section 2, is amended to read as follows:
"SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval[;
provided that on June 30, 2023, this Act shall be repealed and section 448E-13,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be reenacted in the form in which it read on the
day before the effective date of this Act]."
SECTION 4. Act 60, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, is amended by amending section 3 to read as follows:
"SECTION 3. The board of electricians and plumbers shall
submit reports to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the
convening of the regular sessions of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022[, and
2023]. The reports shall include but
not be limited to the following:
(1) Any programs in the State that offer vocational training for licensed electricians to perform high voltage electrical work;
(2) Availability of continuing education, training, or both, necessary for licensed electricians to acquire or keep current those skills related to performing high voltage work;
(3) The number of licensed electricians in the State qualified to perform high voltage electrical work; and
(4) Opportunities for growth in the high voltage work subspecialty."
SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2030.
Report Title:
Electrical Contractors; Licensing; Exemptions; High Voltage
Description:
Makes permanent Act 65, Session Laws of Hawaii 2013, which provides a limited exemption to the licensing requirements for certain individuals in situations when an electric utility must retain qualified individuals to work with high voltage (six hundred volts or higher) who are not licensed in the State but are otherwise deemed qualified by the electric utility, provided that the public utility certifies to the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations and to the Board of Electricians and Plumbers that, after a hiring call, no electrician sufficiently qualified and licensed in the State to perform high voltage electrical work applied to timely perform or complete the necessary job or task before the public utility recruited outside the State. Also makes permanent the requirement for the Board of Electricians and Plumbers to submit to the Legislature annual reports regarding high voltage electrical contractors. Effective 7/1/2030. (SD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
