Green Fee funding draws praise, calls for more accountability from statewide coalition

A statewide environmental coalition is applauding Hawaiʻi lawmakers for advancing what it calls a historic first round of Green Fee investments — while pressing for stronger transparency as the money begins flowing to projects across the islands, including Maui.

The Care for ʻĀina Now coalition, a group of more than 70 organizations, businesses and community leaders, said this week that the final Green Fee funding package embedded in House Bill 1800 — the state’s supplemental budget through 2027 — marks meaningful progress toward closing Hawaiʻi’s $560 million annual conservation and climate resilience funding gap.

The Green Fee, which began collection Jan. 1, is expected to generate more than $100 million annually. The funding package allocates dollars across a range of environmental priorities, including more than $15.7 million for wildfire risk reduction and Firewise initiatives, $6.64 million for community-based ahupuaʻa restoration, $5.75 million for nearshore marine stewardship, $3 million for climate resilience crews and $1.5 million for community-supported coral restoration projects statewide. Additional funding targets watershed restoration, drought planning, invasive species control, reef resilience, flood mitigation and climate adaptation planning.

“This legislative session demonstrated that Hawaiʻi is beginning to recognize that protecting our natural resources is directly tied to protecting our people, economy, infrastructure, and future,” said Carmela Resuma, a Green Fee Advisory Council member and CAN coalition member.

Coalition leaders, however, said the work is far from finished. A central priority throughout the legislative session was passage of House Bill 1949, also called the “GRID” proposal — the Green Fee Resiliency & Impact Dashboard — which would have created a public-facing tracking system allowing residents to monitor how much revenue is collected, where it goes, what projects receive support and what outcomes are achieved. The full dashboard was not enacted this session, though CAN pointed to dedicated funding for Green Fee project tracking and status monitoring through the Department of Budget and Finance as a step in the right direction.

“For this model to be successful, communities need to know where Green Fee dollars are going, understand how decisions are being made, and feel how these investments are producing measurable impacts across the state,” said Keone Nakoa, Kupu vice president of external affairs and a CAN coalition member. “Transparency builds public trust, and that trust is essential to the long-term success of Hawaiʻi’s resilience and stewardship efforts.”

Beyond transparency, the coalition said accountability must carry through from the legislative session into actual implementation — including stronger community engagement, improved access for grassroots organizations, and ensuring that communities remain central partners in shaping how future investments are directed.

“Many important community-driven priorities still require funding, and we know there is more work ahead to strengthen and improve the process moving forward,” Nakoa said.

CAN said it is working with state agencies, lawmakers, nonprofits and communities statewide as the first year of Green Fee implementation gets underway.

“The work of caring for Hawaiʻi will take a collective effort beyond one agency, organization, or administration,” Resuma said. “It will take collaboration, transparency and long-term partnership.”