By Kathleen Wong for USA Today

Hawaii became the first U.S. state to establish a climate impact fee on Tuesday, placing an additional tax on tourists to fund climate change resiliency projects and environmental stewardship within the islands.

As the country's inaugural "Green Fee," Act 96 will raise the state's current transient accommodations tax (TAT) by 0.75% for a total of 11% placed upon the nightly lodging rate, effective Jan. 1, 2026, according to a press release by Governor Josh Green's office.

By Elizabeth ʻUfi for Pacific Business News

Staying at hotel in Hawaii is about to get even more expensive. Beginning next year, visitors staying at a Hawaii hotel or short-term rental will have to pay an added .75% climate-impact fee to the state's existing transient accommodations tax, raising the state visitor tax bill to nearly 11%.

This means a $100 hotel room for one night would now cost an additional 75 cents, with the total charge being $115.5 including the increased TAT from $10.25 to $11 and $4.50 from base general excise tax and county surcharge fees.

The fee is the first-ever climate impact fee, coined the "Green Fee", signed into law by Gov. Josh Green on Tuesday. He said revenue from the fee is projected to generate $100 million annually and would be intended to fund climate protection and environmental resilience efforts, such as wildfire prevention and sea-level rise adaptation.

By Dan Nakaso for Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Everyone who stays in a Hawaii hotel, cruise ship or other lodging beginning Jan. 1 will pay an extra $3 for every $400 in overnight costs — or an additional $30 for every $4,000 spent to stay in the islands — to help Hawaii pay to address climate change and reduce the risk of future wildfires.

Gov. Josh Green signed Senate Bill 1396 into law as Act 96 on Tuesday while surrounded by representatives of Hawaii’s tourism and lodging industries who cheered on the new law, along with state legislators who navigated the bill through the legislative session that just ended.

By Audrey McAvoy for The Independent

Hawaii has enacted a law to increase taxes on hotel rooms and vacation rentals, with the goal of generating funds to combat climate change effects such as shoreline erosion and wildfires.

Signed into law on Tuesday by Governor Josh Green, the legislation is projected to generate around $100 million each year. These funds will support initiatives, including replenishing sand on Waikiki beaches, promoting the use of hurricane clips to secure roofs, and removing flammable invasive grasses that contributed to the devastating Lahaina wildfire.

By Guardian Staff and Agencies

Hawaii’s governor signed legislation that boosts a tax imposed on hotel room and vacation rental stays in order to raise money to address the consequences of the climate crisis.

It’s the first time in a government in the US imposes such levy to help cope with a warming planet.

By Audrey McAvoy for The Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s governor signed legislation Tuesday that boosts a tax imposed on hotel room and vacation rental stays in order to raise money to address eroding shorelines, wildfires and other consequences of climate change.

The signing, which comes nearly two years after a Maui wildfire killed 102 people and wiped out almost all of Lahaina town, marks the nation’s first such levy to help cope with a warming planet.

By HNN Staff

Gov. Josh Green is signing into law a bill that creates a first-of-its-kind “green fee’ to help Hawaii address the impacts of climate change.

Senate Bill 1396 increases the tax visitors pay on hotels, vacation rentals, and cruise ships that dock at Hawaii ports by 0.75%.

The green fee would be added to each county’s 3% lodging tax and a 4.7% general excise tax. That would push a visitor’s tax bill to more than 18.7%, among the highest in the nation.

The fee is expected to raise about $100 million a year for projects to make the state’s infrastructure more resilient to the climate crisis.

By Marcel Honoré for Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaiʻi has officially become the first U.S. state to enact a so-called “green fee” — a charge added onto hotel room stays and other short-term visits to help protect the local environment and address the growing impacts of climate change.

Gov. Josh Green signed the fee into law Tuesday after years of unsuccessfully urging the Legislature to pass it. Set to take effect next year, the fee could raise around $100 million annually, state officials estimate, a portion of which will go toward Hawaiʻi’s response to future disasters similar to the 2023 Lahaina wildfire.

By Kimber Collins for KITV Island News

HONOLULU, Hawaii (Island News) -- Governor Josh Green signed Senate Bill 1396 into law, officially creating Hawaii’s first "Green Fee" funded through a targeted increase to the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT).

The goal: protect the islands from climate change by having visitors, not locals, help foot the bill.

“We have an affordability crisis in our state. We can't just tax the local people anymore,” said Governor Green during Monday’s press conference at the State Capitol.

By Jill Kuramoto for KHON2

HONOLULU (KHON2) — After years of political back and forth, the pen finally hit the paper.

“I hope the world is watching because having something that is a balance between industry and environment is gonna be the way to go forward to protect our people, to protect our states protect your economy,” Gov. Josh Green said. “And most importantly, to protect the lifestyles and the lives we want our children to have for generations to come.”

Green today signed into law Senate Bill 1396, now Act 96. It’s the first of its kind in the nation and creates what’s being called a “Climate Impact Fee” also known as “The Green Fee.”

By Thomas Heaton for Honolulu Civil Beat

This year, the Legislature passed House Bill 1064, which included the revitalization of the Office of the State Fire Marshal and other measures to address shortcomings identified by the Attorney General’s Office in January, in the last of its post-fire reports. 

Hawaiʻi has thrown money at additional fire prevention efforts, including better wildfire forecasting and increased funding for the state wildland firefighting crews, among other things. But much of the prevention work like that needed on the west side of Oʻahu will fall to the future Hawaiʻi state fire marshal, a role expected to be filled some time next month.

By New York Times Opinion

2. Get creative with state policies.

Josh Green, governor of Hawaii: In May, Hawaii became the first state to pass a climate impact fee that will enable us to protect ourselves against climate-related disasters like the devastating Maui fires. A small, 0.75 percent increase in the hotel tax for all travelers to Hawaii will generate $100 million per year, which may also be used to bond $1 billion annually. These resources will fund new research, development and deployment of strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change, such as reducing carbon emissions, protecting and restoring ecosystems and building climate-resilient infrastructure and communities. This is just one example of how state and local governments can take control of their own fates and survive harsh federal cuts.

By Honolulu Star-Advertiser Editorial Board

Amid more than 250 bills just passed by the state Legislature and poised to become Hawaii law, two stand out for their far-reaching potential to seed needed green shoots in the name of environmental stewardship. Senate Bill 1396 creates a climate “green fee” — finally — while SB 897 will help Hawaii’s major power utility, Hawaiian Electric Co., stay solvent and push ahead on crucial improvements for wildfire and disaster prevention. Both measures, though, come with caveats that will require the public, administrators and regulators to stay sharp so these prime opportunities aren’t squandered.

Under SB 1396, a 0.75% increase to the 10.25% statewide transient accommodations tax (TAT) on hotel rooms and short-term rentals will pay into a new fund to help the state respond to climate change and prevent wildfire spread; also, a new 11% TAT will be imposed on cruise ships docking in Hawaii.

By Chad Blair, Ashley Mizuo, Neal Milner, and Dan Nakaso for PBS Hawaiʻi

State lawmakers entered the 2025 session facing chronic problems like the lack of affordable housing, homelessness and decaying infrastructure. Added to the list were bills to curb illegal fireworks, stabilize the home insurance market and allow sports betting. Join the conversation as we discuss which bills passed and which ones died Thursday May 8th at 7:30pm Insights on PBS Hawaiʻi.

By Dana Drugmand for One Earth Now

Furthermore, Hawaii will now be requiring its visitors and vacationers to help contribute to climate mitigation and environmental sustainability initiatives through a first-of-its-kind “green fee” applied to lodging and cruise fares. The Hawaii legislature has just passed a bill, championed by Gov. Green, that will raise the existing transient accommodations tax rate in the state by 0.75% for the purpose of generating additional revenue to go towards climate resiliency efforts such as shoreline protection and reducing wildfire risk.

“Given the devastation we saw on Maui in August of 2023, this measure is crucial because it will help us to deal with wildfire risk resulting from the climate change crisis,” Green said in a statement. “It is foundational to our ability to provide a safe and secure Hawai‘i for our children, our residents, our visitors and the environment.”

By Guardian Staff and Agency

Lawmakers in Hawaii have passed first-of-its-kind legislation that will increase the state’s lodging tax to raise money for environmental protection and strengthening defenses against natural disasters fueled by the climate crisis.

Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green, supports the creation of the so-called “green fee”, and is expected to sign it.

“This legislation, which I intend to sign, is the first of its kind in the nation and represents a generational commitment to protect our ‘āina [land],” Green said in a statement. “Hawai‘i is truly setting a new standard to address the climate crisis.”

By Ashley Mizuo for Hawaiʻi Public Radio

Bills are on their way to the governor, and state lawmakers are already looking into the future.

The legislative session wrapped up Friday with lawmakers passing the country’s first Green Fee — a tax on tourists to support the climate.

It raises the state’s tax on hotels by 0.75 of a percentage point to 11%. It also applies that 11% tax on cruise ships docking in Hawaiʻi. Hawaiʻi’s four counties separately each charge a 3% lodging tax.

By Climate Advisory Team

With the conclusion of Hawaiʻi’s 2025 legislative session, the Climate Advisory Team celebrates the Legislature’s passage of important bills that strengthen our state’s disaster resilience and climate change mitigation efforts. These bills now head to Governor Josh Green, M.D., to be signed into law. 

Together, these measures represent a historic investment to protect Hawaiʻi’s people, environment, and economy from the impacts of a changing climate and support the state’s ongoing commitment to increase disaster resilience in the wake of the tragic 2023 Maui wildfires.

Mahalo to our state legislators and Governor Green for your commitment to delivering meaningful disaster resilience legislation this year. The Climate Advisory Team also thanks the many partners in advocacy and community members who submitted testimony in support of these bills – this legislation would not have been possible without you.

By Marcel Honoré for Honolulu Civil Beat

Among the Legislature’s most notable swings this year was the historic new visitor-paid “green fee,” which aims to offset some of the impact tourists have on Hawaiʻi’s environment plus address a host of local climate change concerns. 

By Honolulu Star-Advertiser Editorial Board

The Legislature has completed another rushed round of lawmaking, but there’s a lingering lack of certainty that the job is done. Senate President Ron Kouchi characterized his chamber’s work as “I” for incomplete, acknowledging a widespread expectation that federal funding cutbacks, tariffs’ whip-sawing effects on the global economy and international trade will disrupt budget expectations and lead to a special session later this year to balance things out.

Under the layer of fed-induced turbulence, however, work got done. Among bills passed by the Leg: authorization for an increase to the hotel room tax; approval for continued kauhale (tiny home community) development; money to move ahead with planning for the Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC); and a higher cigarette tax for the benefit of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center. These bills provide support for absolutely essential endeavors within our state, though future refinements may be necessary.