In the just-ended legislative session, three green-focused initiatives prevailed as first-in-the- nation measures. That’s a profound statement about protection for Hawaii’s delicate ecosystem and human health, but follow- through will be key.

Two measures set in motion moves toward bans — one on coral-damaging sunscreen; the other, chlorpyrifos, a widely used insecticide. The third bill, if signed by Gov. David Ige as urged, would establish Hawaii as the first state to put in place a goal of carbon neutrality — removing as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as added to net a zero-carbon footprint.

Through House Bill 2182, “Hawaii is effectively putting an expiration date on fossil fuels,” said Melissa Miyashiro, Blue Planet Foundation’s chief of staff. The countdown to carbon neutrality would be folded into the ongoing effort to comply with the state’s first-in-the-nation clean-energy law, enacted three years ago, which directs utilities to draw all electricity sales from renewable energy resources by 2045.

Due in part to Hawaii’s far-flung location and heavy dependence on imported fossil fuels — petroleum, coal and natural gas — on average, each resident contributes nearly 15 metric tons of global warming pollution annually. That’s almost three times the worldwide average, Miyashiro said. The bill prods much-needed reduction of our footprint.

The Legislature deserves credit for being bold to push forward these national firsts. But real success is in the follow-up. If a law fails to make good on intent, lawmakers must retool it. Among the disappointments in the 2018 session was failure to fix a gaping loophole in a law requiring new homes to be built with solar water heaters.

A decade ago, Gov. Linda Lingle signed first-in-the-nation renewable energy legislation. While the solar water heater mandate specifies that a variance would be granted in rare cases, according to state figures, more than 6,000 variance requests have been received (and more than 98 percent approved) as of May 1. The vast majority are secured through a provision that allows a gas-fueled heater if at least one gas appliance is installed in the new home.

What’s more, since the start of this year’s session, developer D.R. Horton has requested 80 variances for homes being built on the sun-drenched Ewa Plain. While the loophole allows developers to reduce upfront costs, home-buyers will be saddled with climate-changing water heaters, which are more expensive than the solar type in the long run.

The failure to pass loophole- closing House Bill 2109 taints the 2008 law touted as an environmental win, and prompts questions about whether lawmakers are more talk than action when it comes to effective legislation needed to build a sustainable future.

>> Senate Bill 3095 bans the use of chlorpyrifos, starting Jan. 1, but special permits would allow continued use of the pesticide until 2022. It would also create 100-foot buffer zones around schools.

Some opponents of the bill argue that a state ban in advance of federal action would force Hawaii farmers to pour money into other pest-control options, giving mainland farms still using chlorpyrifos an economic advantage. Supporters counter that well-respected scientific studies have found that any exposure on foods, in drinking water, and from pesticide drift is unsafe.

Chlorpyrifos has been banned from consumer products for more than 15 years, and studies suggest it can impair cognitive development in children. In 2015, the Obama administration announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would adopt a “zero tolerance” policy for residue of the chemical on food, a move that effectively would have ended its use. But that direction was reversed last year when EPA administrator Scott Pruitt signed an order allowing unabated use.

In recent years, California has tightened buffer zones and put in place other safeguards. In Hawaii, where at least 27 schools are within one mile of fields tied to pesticide drift, state leaders should follow that lead. Our lawmakers should be commended for setting up a phase-out of the highly toxic spray staple.

>> Senate Bill 2571, which prohibits the sale and distribution of over-the-counter sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate in Hawaii, would take effect January 2021.

Supporters, including Friends of Hanauma Bay, point to studies that have found exposure to the two chemicals leave coral more susceptible to bleaching and weaken reef ability to recover from thrashings caused by wastewater discharge and other pollution, over-fishing, invasive species and various other climate change threats.

In this case, there’s no need to defer to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when there’s plenty of evidence edging our shorelines. Scientists and others persuasively assert, with photographic corroboration, that the health of Hanauma Bay’s reef and others have degraded in recent decades. This ban may be more enviro-gesture than hard-hitting legislation, but it’s a sensible tactic that can help protect the 410,000 acres of living reef in Hawaii’s main islands.