Bill Text: HI SB942 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Agricultural Lands.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-12-10 - Carried over to 2022 Regular Session. [SB942 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-SB942-Introduced.html
THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
942 |
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021 |
|
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to agricultural lands.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Chapter 141, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§141- Solar
energy facility; letter of attestation; authority. The
board of agriculture shall have the authority to:
(1) Issue or not issue
a letter of attestation pursuant to section 269- ;
(2) Set conditions for
the issuance of a letter of attestation;
(3) Refuse to issue
a letter of attestation if such conditions are not accepted;
(4) Compel compliance
of such conditions, including requesting the assistance of the public utilities
commission, throughout the term of a power purchase agreement pursuant to section
269- ; and
(5) Require further
information from solar energy facility developers or landowners, as needed."
SECTION 2. Chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part I to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§269- Power
purchase agreements; solar energy facilities; approval. The
public utilities commission shall not approve a power purchase agreement for a solar
energy facility on lands with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed
land classification as overall (master) productivity rating B or C unless the board
of agriculture submits a letter to the commission pursuant to section 141-
that attests the following:
(1) That a solar energy
facility is the best use of that particular piece of land to help the State attain
its goals of sustainability;
(2) The solar energy
facility is not displacing or causing to be evicted any agricultural operation that
has been active in the past eighteen months;
(3) The landowner or
solar developer is helping new agricultural operations to be established elsewhere
in the State; and
(4) The landowner or
solar developer is taking steps to ensure that compatible agriculture coexists with
the solar energy facility from the commencement of operations of the solar energy
facility through the termination of operations of the solar energy facility."
SECTION 3. Section 205-4.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Within the agricultural district, all lands with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A or B and for solar energy facilities, class B or C, shall be restricted to the following permitted uses:
(1) Cultivation of crops, including crops for bioenergy, flowers,
vegetables, foliage, fruits, forage, and timber;
(2) Game and fish propagation;
(3) Raising of livestock, including poultry, bees, fish, or other
animal or aquatic life that are propagated for economic or personal use;
(4) Farm dwellings, employee housing, farm buildings, or activities or uses
related to farming and animal husbandry.
"Farm dwelling", as used in this paragraph, means a
single-family dwelling located on and used in connection with a farm, including
clusters of single-family farm dwellings permitted within agricultural parks developed
by the State, or where agricultural activity provides income to the family occupying the dwelling;
(5) Public institutions and buildings that are necessary for
agricultural practices;
(6) Public and private open area types of recreational uses, including
day camps, picnic grounds, parks, and riding stables, but not including
dragstrips, airports, drive-in theaters, golf courses, golf driving ranges,
country clubs, and overnight camps;
(7) Public, private, and quasi-public utility lines and roadways, transformer stations, communications
equipment buildings, solid waste transfer stations, major water storage tanks,
and appurtenant small buildings such as booster pumping stations, but not
including offices or yards for equipment, material, vehicle storage, repair or
maintenance, treatment plants, corporation yards, or other similar structures;
(8) Retention, restoration, rehabilitation, or improvement of buildings
or sites of historic or scenic interest;
(9) Agricultural-based commercial operations as described in section
205-2(d)(15);
(10) Buildings and uses, including mills, storage, and processing facilities, maintenance
facilities, photovoltaic,
biogas, and other small-scale renewable energy systems producing energy solely for use in the agricultural activities
of the fee or leasehold owner of the property, and vehicle and equipment
storage areas that are normally considered directly accessory to the
above-mentioned uses and are permitted under section 205-2(d);
(11) Agricultural parks;
(12) Plantation community subdivisions, which as used in this chapter means
an established subdivision or cluster of employee housing, community buildings,
and agricultural support buildings on land currently or formerly owned, leased,
or operated by a sugar or pineapple plantation; provided that the existing
structures may be used or rehabilitated for use, and new employee housing and
agricultural support buildings may be allowed on land within the subdivision as
follows:
(A) The employee housing is occupied by employees
or former employees of the plantation who have a property interest in the land;
(B) The employee housing units not owned by their
occupants shall be rented or leased at affordable rates for agricultural
workers; or
(C) The agricultural support buildings shall be
rented or leased to agricultural business operators or agricultural support
services;
(13) Agricultural tourism conducted on a working farm, or a farming operation as defined in section 165-2, for the enjoyment, education, or involvement of visitors; provided that the agricultural tourism activity is accessory and secondary to the principal agricultural use and does not interfere with surrounding farm operations; and provided further that this paragraph shall apply only to a county that has adopted ordinances regulating agricultural tourism under section 205-5;
(14) Agricultural
tourism activities, including overnight accommodations of twenty-one
days or less, for any one stay within a county; provided that this paragraph shall apply only to a
county that includes at least three islands and has adopted ordinances
regulating agricultural tourism activities pursuant to section 205-5; provided
further that the agricultural tourism activities coexist with a bona fide
agricultural activity. For the purposes
of this paragraph, "bona fide agricultural activity" means a farming
operation as defined in section 165-2;
(15) Wind
energy facilities, including the appurtenances associated with the production
and transmission of wind generated energy; provided that the wind energy
facilities and appurtenances are compatible with agriculture uses and cause
minimal adverse impact on agricultural land;
(16) Biofuel processing facilities, including the appurtenances associated with the production and refining of biofuels that is normally considered directly accessory and secondary to the growing of the energy feedstock; provided that biofuel processing facilities and appurtenances do not adversely impact agricultural land and other agricultural uses in the vicinity.
For the purposes of this paragraph:
"Appurtenances" means operational infrastructure of the appropriate type and scale for economic commercial storage and distribution, and other similar handling of feedstock, fuels, and other products of biofuel processing facilities.
"Biofuel processing
facility" means a facility that produces liquid or gaseous fuels from
organic sources such as biomass crops, agricultural residues, and oil crops,
including palm, canola, soybean, and waste cooking oils; grease; food wastes;
and animal residues and wastes that can be used to generate energy;
(17) Agricultural-energy facilities, including appurtenances necessary
for an agricultural-energy enterprise; provided that the primary activity of
the agricultural-energy enterprise is agricultural activity. To be considered the primary activity of an
agricultural-energy enterprise, the total acreage devoted to agricultural
activity shall be not less than ninety per cent of the total acreage of the
agricultural-energy enterprise. The
agricultural-energy facility shall be limited to lands owned, leased, licensed,
or operated by the entity conducting the agricultural activity.
As used in this
paragraph:
"Agricultural
activity" means any activity described in paragraphs (1) to (3) of this
subsection.
"Agricultural-energy
enterprise" means an enterprise that integrally incorporates an
agricultural activity with an agricultural-energy facility.
"Agricultural-energy
facility" means a facility that generates, stores, or distributes
renewable energy as defined in section 269-91 or renewable fuel including
electrical or thermal energy or liquid or gaseous fuels from products of
agricultural activities from agricultural lands located in the State.
"Appurtenances"
means operational infrastructure of the appropriate type and scale for the
economic commercial generation, storage, distribution, and other similar
handling of energy, including equipment, feedstock, fuels, and other products
of agricultural-energy facilities;
(18) Construction and operation of wireless communication antennas, including
small wireless facilities; provided that, for the purposes of this paragraph,
"wireless communication antenna" means communications equipment that
is either freestanding or placed upon or attached to an already existing
structure and that transmits and receives electromagnetic radio signals used in
the provision of all types of wireless communications services; provided further that "small wireless
facilities" shall have the same meaning as in section 206N-2; provided
further that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to permit the
construction of any new structure that is not deemed a permitted use under this
subsection;
(19) Agricultural
education programs conducted on a farming operation as defined in section
165-2, for the education and participation of the general public; provided that
the agricultural education programs are accessory and secondary to the
principal agricultural use of the parcels or lots on which the agricultural
education programs are to occur and do not interfere with surrounding farm
operations. For the purposes of this
paragraph, "agricultural education programs" means activities or
events designed to promote knowledge and understanding of agricultural
activities and practices conducted on a farming operation as defined in section
165-2;
(20) Solar energy facilities that do not occupy more than ten per cent of the acreage of the parcel, or twenty acres of land, whichever is lesser or for which a special use permit is granted pursuant to section 205-6; provided that this use shall not be permitted on lands with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A;
(21) Solar energy facilities on lands with soil classified by the land study bureau's detailed land classification as overall (master) productivity rating B or C for which a special use permit is granted pursuant to section 205-6; provided that:
(A) The entire area
occupied by the solar energy facilities [is also made available for] shall
be utilized for economically viable compatible agricultural activities [at
a] no later than the commencement of full operation of the facility;
(B) The
lease rate [that is at least fifty] to the compatible agricultural activity
shall not exceed seventy-five per cent below the fair market rent for
comparable properties;
[(B)] (C)
Proof of financial security to
decommission the facility is provided to the satisfaction of the appropriate county
planning commission prior to date of commencement of commercial generation; and
[(C)] (D)
Solar energy facilities shall be
decommissioned at the owner's expense according to the following requirements:
(i) Removal of all equipment related to the solar energy facility within twelve months of the conclusion of operation or useful life; and
(ii) Restoration of the disturbed earth to substantially the same physical condition as existed prior to the development of the solar energy facility.
For the purposes of this paragraph, "agricultural activities" means the activities described in paragraphs (1) to (3);
(22) Geothermal
resources exploration and geothermal resources development, as defined under
section 182‑1; or
(23) Hydroelectric facilities, including the appurtenances associated with the production and transmission of hydroelectric energy, subject to section 205-2; provided that the hydroelectric facilities and their appurtenances:
(A) Shall consist of a small hydropower facility as defined by the United States Department of Energy, including:
(i) Impoundment facilities using a dam to store water in a reservoir;
(ii) A diversion or run-of-river facility that channels a portion of a river through a canal or channel; and
(iii) Pumped storage facilities that store energy by pumping water uphill to a reservoir at higher elevation from a reservoir at a lower elevation to be released to turn a turbine to generate electricity;
(B) Comply with the state water code, chapter 174C;
(C) Shall, if over
five hundred kilowatts in hydroelectric generating capacity, have the approval
of the commission on water resource management, including a new instream flow
standard established for any new hydroelectric facility; and
(D) Do not impact or impede the use of agricultural land or the availability of surface or ground water for all uses on all parcels that are served by the ground water sources or streams for which hydroelectric facilities are considered."
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODUCED BY: |
_____________________________ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Report Title:
Board of Agriculture; Public Utilities Commission; Solar Energy Facility; Letter of Attestation; Power Purchase Agreements
Description:
Authorizes the board of agriculture to issue a letter of attestation for solar energy facilities, under certain conditions. Prohibits the public utilities commission from approving a power purchase agreement for a solar energy facility on certain lands without a letter of attestation from the board of agriculture. Clarifies the conditions in which a solar energy facility can operate on class B or C lands.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.