Predicting wildfires using artificial intelligence, banning new overhead high-voltage power lines and paying for catastrophic fire property losses could be in Hawaii’s future depending on state lawmaker decisions this year.

The three ideas are among more than 50 proposals introduced at the state Legislature in January to address wildfire risks in Hawaii or to help survivors of the Aug. 8 disaster on Maui where most of Lahaina was destroyed and 100 people died.

Before this year’s legislative session began Jan. 17, leaders in the House of Representatives and Senate said a top priority would be on wildfire issues, and lawmakers have not underdelivered.

All or nearly all of the 51 House members and 25 Senate members have introduced or co-introduced bills with such focus.

Some measures, if they become law, would provide financial assistance to people and businesses who suffered losses on Maui.

Other bills are aimed at providing money for wildfire risk assessment and mitigation.

Several measures would create new organizations — including a commission, an office, a board, a council, a corporation, a working group and a task force — to better address wildfire risks and response.

There is even one bill to temporarily prohibit new business names referring to federally declared disasters, and one that would appropriate money to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts partly to benefit children and communities affected by the Maui wildfires.

State Sen. Angus McKelvey (D, West Maui-Maalaea-South Maui) said it is heartening to see the outpouring of proposals to help the Lahaina community and others around the state with regard to wildfire damage and risks.

“It’s great to see so many bills,” he said. “There are many different things and great ideas.”

One bill that was advanced Tuesday by the House Committee on Water and Land would appropriate money to bolster wildfire response capabilities of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to hire more staff and buy more equipment for use in wildfire emergencies.

House Bill 1841 would fund 22 full-time equivalent positions and a long list of equipment purchases, including 17 Ford F-450 fire engines, 16 water dip tanks, eight weather stations, five unmanned aircraft systems with thermal detectors and four bulldozers.

No cost figures are in the bill yet, but strong support was received by county fire agency leaders and DLNR, which noted that its Division of Forestry and Wildlife is the primary wildland fire responder for 26% of the land area in Hawaii.

“DLNR is a key partner in preventing and responding to wildfire emergencies,” Pamela Tumpap, president of the Maui Chamber of Commerce, said in written testimony. “Given the prevalence of wildfires in Hawaii over the last several years as well as the Maui wildfires disaster, it is critical that DLNR have the necessary resources going forward.”

The same House committee Wednesday passed three other wildfire-related bills, including one that would have the University of Hawaii develop a wildfire forecast system using artificial intelligence (HB 1924), and one that would have UH develop computerized maps showing property, including buildings and infrastructure, that are most vulnerable to wildfire (HB 1949).

Help for Maui

A significant number of bills are aimed at providing financial aid to people and companies who suffered losses in the Lahaina fire and two other fires in Upcountry Maui.

Most broadly, HB 2379 and companion measure Senate Bill 3068 were introduced to appropriate funds to support a continued state response to the disaster.

These two bills, requested by Gov. Josh Green, include a proposed $452.2 million appropriation for Maui wildfire response costs as well as statewide wildfire mitigation and response.

Other bills directed at Maui fire relief would:

>>> Offer homeowners who lost single-family homes in the fire loans up to $75,000 with no interest or fees for making a down payment on a replacement home (HB 1736).

>> Provide businesses displaced by the fires with grants in as-yet-unspecified amounts to help pay for rent at a new location (HB 1909).

>> Appropriate an as-yet- unspecified amount of state revenue for the Maui Economic Development Board to award financial bridge grants to Maui-based businesses affected by the wildfires (HB 2645).

>> Allow income tax credits for investing in businesses affected by the Lahaina fire, with a maximum credit of 110% of the investment earned over five years up to a maximum of $135 million (SB 3382).

State Rep. Elle Cochran (D, Waihee-Lahaina-Lahainaluna) said she appreciates the intent to help the community that she represents, but expressed some frustration that hardly any House colleagues reached out to her for input.

Cochran also said broader efforts to make Hawaii safer with regard to wildfire are critically needed.

“I’m glad we are now talking and preparing for such,” she said. “The state has to collectively come together. … We’re going to learn from the past and move forward and make sure we don’t repeat what happened.”

Broader legislation

Several bills propose to fund broad initiatives related to wildfires. Some of these would:

>> Provide compensation for property damage resulting from catastrophic wildfires regardless of cause (SB 3344 and HB 2700). Private landowners, electrical utilities, the state and other government entities would pay into the fund, which would be governed by a public corporation.

>> Prohibit construction of overhead high-voltage electrical transmission lines, and have the state Public Utilities Commission direct certain public utilities to underground all such existing lines (HB 2169).

>> Appropriate $25 million for matching a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant program that makes funding available to prevent or minimize damage from natural hazards (HB 2610).

>> Create a state insurance fund to cover catastrophic wildfire losses not covered by private insurers (SB 2086 and HB 1547).

>> Appropriate an as- yet-unspecified amount of money for DLNR and the state Department of Transportation to manage vegetation that reduces risks of wildfires (SB 2088 and HB 1548).

One or more new state government panels to engage in wildfire mitigation and Lahaina recovery work could be created if certain bills become law. Bills in this category would:

>> Establish a Wildfire Safety Advisory Board within DLNR to advise and make recommendations to state agencies concerning state wildfire safety and prevention efforts (HB 1926 and SB 2842).

>> Create a “state wildfire corps” of firefighters to fight wildfires on terrain that county fire departments can’t reach, plus new positions for a state wildfire marshal and a state wildfire chief within the state Department of Defense (SB 2356). This bill also would create a wildfire fuel reduction task force.

>> Set up a wildfire mitigation working group in the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development (SB 2142). Tasks for this group would include charting a plan for retrofitting unsafely designed subdivisions to have adequate evacuation routes, and developing a system of state tax incentives, penalties and funding support for managing land to adequately reduce fire risk.

>> Establish the Lahaina Recovery Oversight Commission within the state Department of Accounting and General Services to oversee and guide the town’s wildfire recovery (SB 2979 and HB 2696).

>> Form the Interagency Council for Maui Housing Recovery within the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to coordinate and facilitate a permanent housing recovery on Maui where more than 3,000 homes were destroyed by the Lahaina fire (HB 2549 and SB 2836).

Six working groups formed in September and made up of state House members produced 10 bills aiming to address issues arising out of the Lahaina wildfire. One of these proposes to establish a state fire marshal office within the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (HB 1843).

Another bill from one of the bipartisan House working groups was the DLNR equipment and position funding measure advanced Tuesday, and another would appropriate money for long-term air and water quality monitoring for communities affected by the Maui wildfires (HB 1839).

McKelvey said the Legislature will have its work cut out to carefully consider measures that deserve enactment while not rushing ahead with measures that aren’t well crafted, and he sees the possibility of some of the best ideas from different bills possibly being consolidated into fewer pieces of legislation that become law.

“There’s no magic bullets,” he said. “It’s a huge amount of work.”