Green Fee Advisory Council to give update about project evaluation, recommendations

The Green Fee Advisory Council will host a webinar next week via Zoom to update the public about its ongoing evaluation criteria along with timelines and next steps in its recommendation process for possible Green Fee projects.

Participants in the Nov. 20 webinar also will have the opportunity to submit questions. The meeting is scheduled for 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

The council is now reviewing possible Green Fee projects it received from individuals, community groups, nonprofits, local businesses, counties, state departments and agencies.

Projects were submitted via the council’s Public Ideas Portal — which was open from Oct. 15 to Nov. 1 — as well as from state departments through the Hawaiʻi Department of Budget and Finance.

“We’ve seen an incredible response, with nearly 500 ideas from the public and more than 100 project proposals from state departments,” said Green Fee Advisory Council Chairman Jeff Mikulina in a state release. “It’s clear there’s no shortage of good ideas for using these funds to protect Hawaiʻi’s environment, strengthen communities and support sustainable tourism.”

Act 96 outlines that Green Fee funds can only be used for three purposes:

• Natural resource enhancement (environmental stewardship).
• Infrastructure resilience and hazard mitigation.
• Visitor impact mitigation and experience (sustainable tourism).

Funds must be appropriated to state agencies or counties that can then partner with other local organizations to execute projects.

Green Fee Advisory Council members’ role is to evaluate and make funding priority recommendations. The Hawaiʻi Legislature will make the final appropriations decisions during the 2026 legislative session.

The council will not be able to address questions about individual project idea submissions during the webinar but can address processes and decision timelines in general.

“Our council is committed to evaluating these proposals fairly and transparently, and we look forward to sharing our evaluation approach with the public,” Mikulina said.

Those who want to attend can register now for the webinar online.