Surfing the environmental permitting bureaucracy in Hawaii: CEI report

News Release from CEI, 03/19/2025

Hawaii’s environmental permitting system sits at a crucial moment in history, with the destruction of homes and businesses on Maui in the August 2023 wildfires reinvigorating calls for a more efficient state permitting system. Efforts to streamline the process, including an unpopular emergency order enacted by Gov. Josh Green in response to the fires and an unclear system of automatic permit approvals, have created logistical challenges that have proved onerous in helping the state rebuild.

However, promising policies, such as those mentioned in a new CEI report, may signal Hawaii is headed in a new direction in regulating its permitting system.

Temporary actions have allowed third-party experts outside of local or state government to assist in certain areas of the permitting process. This policy has shown short-term success in alleviating some post-wildfire permitting woes.

“Hawaii can make its system of third-party review permanent while avoiding some predictable pitfalls,” said report author and CEI Senior Fellow James Broughel.

“It can also build upon its existing automatic approvals law. Hawaii has the opportunity to establish an accountable permitting system that meets the state’s unique cultural and environmental priorities,” Broughel said.

Key recommendations mentioned in the report include:

• Institutionalize third-party permitting reviews by passing legislation with clear certification standards and oversight mechanisms;
• Strengthen Hawaii’s automatic permit approval law by clarifying its scope and setting firm deadlines, and;
• Engage stakeholders early to ensure permitting reforms respect environmental and cultural sensitivities.

Read Aloha Approvals: Surfing the Hawaii permitting bureaucracy on CEI.org