HONOLULU — A new bill introduced in the state legislature is intended to help threatened and endangered species that are often harmed by industry activities, like those caused by wind power plants, solar power stations or even golf courses.
Rep. David Tarnas, who represents North Kohala, South Kohala and North Kona on Hawaii Island, introduced House Bill 1979 on Jan. 26 and said he hoped it would help both vulnerable species and the state’s clean energy goals.
The bill would require any person engaging in an activity that will probably harm or kill threatened or endangered species — such as seabirds, forest birds, nene, and bats — to complete a Habitat Conservation Plan with the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Currently, many landowners who undertake activities that are harmful to vulnerable wildlife create Habitat Conservation Plans, but they are not mandatory.
Under the bill, DLNR would identify the specific ventures that have a high likelihood of harming threatened or endangered animals and they would be required to complete a Habitat Conservation Plan.
Tarnas, who along with being a state representative is an environmental planner, said DLNR should include golf courses, because golf balls regularly hit and injure nene on Hawaii Island.
He also said any facility with bright lights should be included. This is because Newell’s shearwaters are “grounded” by the lights, which is when the threatened seabirds confuse street lights and other electric lighting for moonlight and it distracts the flying birds, scrambles their thinking and leads them to crash into buildings. In order to survive, the birds must be retrieved by humans. Otherwise, they are often run over by cars or killed by cats, rats, or mongooses.
“If some activity has bright lights, they’re going to need to figure out how to mitigate it,” said Tarnas. He said design solutions might include using warmer lights that are less distracting to the seabirds or shielding the lights so they don’t face the ocean.
The bill describes the specifics that would be required under a Habitat Conservation Plan, starting with steps that will be taken to minimize negative effects, including proper design and construction of structures, lighting, wires, and other obstructions as well as incidental takes. According to DLNR’s online resources, “take” means “to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect endangered or threatened species of aquatic life or wildlife.”
Additionally, Habitat Conservation Plans would be required to include monitoring for injured wildlife. If there were injured animals, they would be retrieved and assisted by an on-call emergency medical treatment team and long-term rehabilitation centers, so they can be released back into the wild.
DLNR would determine what the penalties would be for harming threatened or endangered animals and breaking other rules detailed in the Habitat Conservation Plan.
“By policy we don’t comment on pending legislation,” said DLNR spokesperson Dan Dennison in response to a request from Spectrum News Hawaii for a comment on the legislation.
In order for this bill to become law, it still has a lengthy process to go through. Tarnas said he would schedule a Water and Land Committee hearing next week. The bill would also need to be heard by another committee and twice more by the House, before being sent to the Senate, where it goes through the same process. During the last few weeks of the Legislative session in early May, it would need consensus from both chambers, and then it would go back for a final vote. As long as the governor doesn’t veto the bill, it would then become law.
“It’s unusual for a brand new idea to pass through in the first year that it’s introduced. So if it takes more than one year, that’s fine,” said Tarnas about the future of the bill. “I’m a patient guy, and I’m courteously persistent.”
