The House Committee on Water & Land took final action on a slate of bills during the Feb. 11 hearing. Below are the measures the committee voted to advance and the committee’s recorded disposition as shown in the hearing record.

Votes at a glance

- HB 85 (land conservation): Committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass with amendments (HD1); chair noted technical amendments, a defect date and changes to percent/ceiling language as described on the record. Chair declared the recommendation adopted.

- HB 800 (government): Committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass with amendments (HD1). The record shows two members voted with reservations on the recommendation; the chair’s recommendation was adopted.

- HB 1138 (ocean user safety / HRS 91‑3(b) extension): Committee adopted amendments to extend the current HRS procedural timeframe from 3 months to 1 year and defected the date; two members recorded reservations. The recommendation was adopted.

- HB 1144: Deferred indefinitely from the record.

- HB 969 (wastewater / landfill reuse and related issues): Committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass as is (HD1); the committee moved the measure forward after receiving agency comments and public testimony.

- HB 798: Committee adopted the Department of Health’s proposed amendments; the record shows named no votes (Representative Iwamoto and Representative Shimizu) and reservations (Representatives Belotti and Souza); recommendation adopted.

- HB 879 (cesspool conversions / funding and conversion rules): Committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass as is (HD1); committee recommendation adopted.

- HB 735 (wastewater): Committee adopted the Department of Health’s amendments (HD2) and passed the measure with amendments; recommendation adopted.

- HB 511 (public lands transfers): Committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass with amendments (HD1); recommendation adopted.

- HB 738 (historic preservation): Committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass with amendments (HD1/HD2 referenced); members recorded reservations on funding and staffing concerns; recommendation adopted.

- HB 830 (historic preservation procedure changes): Committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass as is (HD1). Several members recorded reservations citing Historic Hawaii Foundation concerns; recommendation adopted.

- HB 1008 (historic preservation review for state affordable housing): Committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass with amendments (HD2); several members recorded reservations; recommendation adopted.

- HB 734 (individual wastewater systems): Committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass as is; recommendation adopted.

- HB 3379 (environment / coastal protections narrowed to 200 ft): Committee adopted a narrowed scope (to 200 ft from shore) and passed with amendments; one member recorded reservations; recommendation adopted.

- HB 1495 (Keaau/Keahou aquifer monitoring pilot): Committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass as is (HD1); the chair asked finance to note sample well costs; recommendation adopted.

Notes on voting: The transcript records committee adoption of the chair’s recommendation for each listed measure. In several cases the hearing record notes named no votes and members voting with reservations; the committee proceeded to adopt the chair’s recommendations despite those recorded noes/reservations. Where the transcript read a roll call, those names were recorded in the hearing audio record; where only summary statements were read the committee clerk indicated “all members vote aye” with named exceptions where applicable.

Why this matters: The votes advance multiple measures relating to land use, wastewater and historic‑preservation processes; several bills include technical amendments requested by agencies and will proceed for further consideration in the legislative process.

What’s next: Bills that passed out of committee will move to the next committee(s) noted in the record or to the calendar for floor action; where the committee flagged budgetary implications (for example, monitoring wells), the chair asked finance to consider cost estimates.