House committees advance bill requiring agricultural use for solar on agricultural lands

House members advancing Hawaii’s energy and food goals voted March 19 to pass SB443 SD1, a bill that would require lands in the agricultural district that host solar energy facilities to also be used for a farming operation.

The measure, considered jointly by the House Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems and the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, seeks to prevent purely commercial solar developments from occupying land zoned for agriculture without meaningful agricultural production.

Lawmakers and witnesses told committees the bill aims to protect productive agricultural land while recognizing the state’s renewable-energy targets. “We support any effort that would require agriculture production on agriculture lands that allows for solar,” said Brian Miyamoto of the Hawaii Farm Bureau.

The Department of Agriculture (HDOA) and the Hawaii State Energy Office recommended against creating a duplicative new certification process that would slow permitting. “Rather than create a whole new certification process and authority that would just add more paperwork and bureaucracy,” HDOA staff said in testimony, the committee should instead clarify the statutory definition of a “commercial agricultural operation” and add more specific farm-related thresholds for solar sites.

Agribusiness Development Corp. (ADC) urged parallel planning between energy developers and agricultural operators so land use and farm infrastructure — including water and slaughtering capacity for livestock — are considered up front. ADC’s Wendy Gady referenced a recent Kauai proposal on ADC land and said, “The spacing between the panels … has to be spaced so you could combine in and around those solar panels.”

Committee members pressed for pragmatic safeguards: annual filings, county agricultural dedication records, Schedule F tax forms or other evidence of ongoing farm activity were discussed as potential compliance checks. Several witnesses noted that requiring elevated panels or wider spacing for mechanized farming would raise development costs and affect energy rates.

The committee adopted a package of technical amendments and directed departments and stakeholders — including HDOA, the State Energy Office, Farm Bureau and ADC — to work on specific statutory language before the next hearing. Chair Kirsten Kahaloa said the committees will “work on this outside of committee and hope that we can have some stronger language to address all of the comments and feedback we got today.”

The measure was passed by both committees with amendments. The Agriculture & Food Systems committee recorded the following ayes during its vote: Chair Kirsten Kahaloa, Vice Chair (vice chair name recorded as Cush), Representative Lowen and Representative Peruso; two members were noted as excused. The Energy and Environmental Protection committee similarly voted to pass with amendments.

Lawmakers described the next steps as drafting clearer, objective criteria for what counts as active agriculture on renewable-energy sites (such as minimum production thresholds, documentation, or scheduled check-ins) so projects can meet both food security and decarbonization goals without imposing duplicative review burdens.

The committees requested that the agencies return with proposed language and implementation details — including how often compliance would be checked and whether any review should occur after construction rather than as an additional preconstruction permit.

Members and witnesses agreed the issue requires a balanced approach that preserves prime farmland while allowing renewable projects where appropriate. The committees will continue work on the bill before it moves to subsequent House committees.