Hawaii’s certified shoreline and setback requirements determine where you can build on any coastal parcel in the state. Before you can pull a building permit, calculate how far your house must sit from the ocean, or develop a lot near the water, a licensed surveyor has to identify the shoreline in the field, the Department of Land and Natural Resources has to certify it, and you have to measure the county setback inland from that certified line. The certification is good for twelve months. The setback ranges from forty feet on Oahu and Hawaii Island to two hundred feet or more on Maui, and building inside it without a variance can trigger fines above $100,000.
How Hawaii Defines the Shoreline
The shoreline in Hawaii is not the water’s edge or the high-tide line. Under HRS 205A-41, it is “the upper reaches of the wash of the waves, other than storm and seismic waves, at high tide during the season of the year in which the highest wash of the waves occurs.” A surveyor locates it by looking for the edge of vegetation growth or the upper limit of debris left by wave action during the highest seasonal wash. Storm surge and tsunami wash are excluded, so a single hurricane doesn’t reset the line.
Because sandy beaches shift, bluffs erode, and vegetation lines move, the shoreline is not a fixed boundary. That is why the certification expires after a year and why the state requires a fresh field survey rather than reliance on older maps.
What the Certification Application Requires
The process is governed by Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 13-222. You cannot file it yourself in any meaningful sense; a licensed Hawaii land surveyor has to do the fieldwork and prepare the maps, and the state will reject an incomplete package.
The Surveyor
A land surveyor licensed by the State of Hawaii must conduct the field survey.1Department of Land and Natural Resources. Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 13-222 The surveyor identifies the physical shoreline from vegetation, debris, and wave-wash evidence, then produces a survey map to state standards. The survey has to be conducted within ninety days of the application, so an old survey cannot be recycled. Fees vary with the parcel, but coastal boundary work for a typical residential lot runs into the thousands.
The Package You File
The application goes to the DLNR Land Division and must include:2Department of Land and Natural Resources. Shoreline Certification Application Form
- Property details: tax map key, district, island, address, and ownership.
- At least seven copies of the survey map, drawn to specified sizes and engineer or architect scale in feet. Reduced or enlarged copies are not accepted.
- At least three sets of color photographs of the shoreline as delineated, with permanent ground markings visible. Each photo must be labeled with a number or letter matching the map, the direction of the shot, and the date and time taken.
- A signed statement authorizing state representatives, including the state land surveyor, to enter the property for inspection. If access requires crossing a neighbor’s land, you need a similar statement from that owner.
- Copies of any federal, state, or county enforcement actions involving the shoreline in question.
Fees
A $75 filing fee accompanies the application. It can be refunded if you withdraw before DLNR begins its completeness review; once review starts, the fee is gone. You are also on the hook for reimbursing state costs incurred during processing, including travel for site inspections on neighbor islands.
Review, Public Notice, and Decision
Once DLNR accepts the application as complete, the state land surveyor may conduct or arrange a site inspection and can consult with the licensed surveyor and any interested commenters to resolve differences over where the true shoreline sits.3Legal Information Institute. Hawaii Code of Rules 13-222-10 – Review, Revision and Certification
HRS 205A-42 requires the chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources to publish notice of every application in The Environmental Notice, the periodic bulletin of the Office of Environmental Quality Control. The notice identifies the property by tax map key and, where applicable, address and nearest town. Written comments must reach the state land surveyor within fifteen calendar days of publication.4Hawaii Office of Planning and Sustainable Development. Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 205A That window is short, and adjacent landowners who miss it lose their chance to raise concerns during initial review, though appeals remain available afterward.
If the state land surveyor is satisfied the proposed line accurately reflects the upper reach of the wash of the waves, the chairperson or a designee signs the certification. If not, the application is rejected. Either outcome is published in The Environmental Notice.
How Long the Certification Lasts
A certified shoreline is valid for twelve months from the date of certification. After that, a new survey and new application are required if you still need certification for permits or development approvals.
One exception applies. If the shoreline is fixed by an artificial structure, such as an approved seawall, and engineering drawings exist to locate the interface between the structure and the shoreline, the certification can remain valid as long as the structure stays intact and unaltered. To rely on the exception, you submit a written request with a licensed surveyor’s statement confirming the structure has not changed, along with updated maps and photographs.1Department of Land and Natural Resources. Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 13-222
Even inside the twelve months, DLNR can rescind a certification if it finds a substantial misrepresentation of material fact in the original application, whether or not the misstatement was intentional.
Appealing a Certification or Rejection
Property owners, adjacent owners, government agencies, and anyone who can show a direct and immediate interest distinguishable from the general public can appeal. The notice of appeal must be filed in writing within twenty calendar days of the public notice of the proposed certification or rejection. Once standing is established, the appeal proceeds on briefs, and the sole issue is whether the certification or rejection was proper. The board or chairperson must act within sixty days of receiving all briefs; inaction within that period is a denial.1Department of Land and Natural Resources. Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 13-222
How the Setback Is Measured
The certified shoreline is the starting point. HRS 205A-43 sets a statewide minimum setback of forty feet inland from the certified line and directs the counties to adopt their own rules, which can be more restrictive but never less.4Hawaii Office of Planning and Sustainable Development. Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 205A The four counties have taken different approaches, and the differences matter.
Honolulu (Oahu)
Under Revised Ordinances of Honolulu Chapter 23, the default setback is forty feet from the certified shoreline. The ordinance allows wider setbacks in specific areas, but forty feet is the baseline for most residential coastal lots on the island.5City and County of Honolulu. Revised Ordinances of Honolulu Chapter 23 – Shoreline Setbacks
Maui County
Maui overhauled its rules effective August 2024. The old method multiplied the annual erosion rate by fifty years and added a twenty-five-foot buffer. The current rules replace that with an Erosion Hazard Line modeled by the University of Hawaii Climate Resilience Collaborative, based on future projected erosion that accounts for 3.2 feet of sea level rise. In many locations the EHL produces setbacks considerably deeper than the old formula. Where no EHL is mapped, the default setback is two hundred feet, or the county may apply a lot-depth-based alternative.6County of Maui. Maui Island Shoreline Rule Update 2024 Pre-2024 setback figures for Maui property are almost certainly out of date.
Hawaii County (Big Island)
Hawaii County follows the state minimum. Under HRS 205A-43 and Planning Department Rule 11-5, lots abutting the shoreline carry a forty-foot setback.7Hawaii County Planning Department. Special Management Area (SMA) The Planning Department can require greater distances for larger projects or in areas with known erosion hazards.
Kauai County
Kauai uses erosion-rate-based formulas that can push the setback well beyond the state minimum. Depending on a property’s erosion history, setbacks can reach sixty feet, one hundred feet, or more. Owners should check with the Kauai Planning Department for the current formula and the mapped erosion rates for their specific parcel.
What You Can Build Inside the Setback
HRS 205A-44 prohibits structures in the shoreline area without a variance. It also bars mining or removing sand, coral, rocks, soil, or other beach deposits from the setback zone, with narrow exceptions. Existing permitted structures can be repaired but not enlarged, rebuilt, or replaced without a variance.8Justia Law. Hawaii Revised Statutes 205A-44 – Prohibitions
Honolulu’s ordinance, representative of the general county approach, allows a handful of exceptions inside the setback:5City and County of Honolulu. Revised Ordinances of Honolulu Chapter 23 – Shoreline Setbacks
- Open fences and similar minor structures that do not affect beach processes, artificially fix the shoreline, or interfere with public access and views.
- Continuation of farming or aquaculture operations that predate the ordinance, without expansion.
- Maintenance, repair, and minor alterations of publicly owned boating, maritime, or ocean recreation facilities.
- Civil defense warning devices and sirens.
- Nonconforming structures that predate the current rules or hold a variance.
Anything else, including primary residences, swimming pools, and retaining walls, requires a Shoreline Setback Variance.9Department of Planning and Permitting. Shoreline Setback Variance Variances are difficult to obtain. You must demonstrate that the land cannot be put to any reasonable use without encroaching into the setback. Public hearings are standard, and neighbors, environmental organizations, and agencies can testify against the project. The reviewing body can deny the application based on environmental harm, loss of public access, or interference with coastal views.
One boundary worth flagging: don’t plan around a seawall. HRS 205A-2 prohibits private shoreline hardening at sites with sand beaches or where the structure would interfere with recreation and waterline activities, and public hardening at those sites must be minimized. If your development strategy for a coastal lot depends on armoring the beach first, state law is against you.
Penalties for Building Where You Shouldn’t
Under HRS 205A-32, anyone who violates the shoreline setback provisions faces a civil fine of up to $100,000 per violation, or the cost of restoring the environment to its pre-violation condition. On top of that one-time penalty, the state can impose up to $10,000 per day for each day the violation continues.
County penalties stack on state penalties. Honolulu’s Chapter 23 adds an initial civil fine of up to $10,000 per violation and up to $1,000 per day until the violation is corrected or a variance is granted. A property owner who builds inside the setback without approval and takes months to remove the structure can face combined penalties well into six figures.
Federal Permits and Flood-Zone Rules
A certified shoreline and a county building permit are not always enough. If your project puts any structure in or over navigable waters, including boat ramps, piers, groins, breakwaters, or riprap, you need authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act.10U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act If the work discharges dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act requires a separate permit.11U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Permit Program under CWA Section 404 Many Hawaii coastal projects trigger both.
The Coastal Zone Management Act also requires that federal actions with reasonably foreseeable effects on coastal uses or resources be consistent with the enforceable policies of Hawaii’s approved Coastal Management Program. If a federal permit or federal funding is involved, the state reviews for consistency and can object; an objection blocks the federal permit unless the Secretary of Commerce overrides it on appeal.
Coastal properties in Hawaii frequently fall inside FEMA-designated V zones. In those zones, new construction and substantial improvements must be elevated on pilings or columns so that the bottom of the lowest structural member sits at or above the base flood elevation. Fill cannot be used for structural support, enclosed space below the lowest floor must use breakaway walls, and altering sand dunes is prohibited.12eCFR. Flood Plain Management Criteria for Flood-Prone Areas Plan for those construction standards in parallel with the shoreline and setback rules, not after.