HONOLULU — Gov. Josh Green signed the 10th Emergency Proclamation Relating to Wildfires on Tuesday, amending previous orders to further ease efforts to provide affordable housing for those displaced by last year’s Maui wildfires.

“The devastating loss of thousands of homes in the fires exacerbated Maui’s already untenable housing shortage,” Green said in a statement released on Tuesday. “We are making progress toward housing our displaced families and individuals on Maui and this new EP will help get them into long-term, stable homes for the first time since August.” 

Among the changes, the proclamation removes price freezes for all commodities except rentals of residential dwellings. However, it also provides an exception from the price freeze for rentals for affordable housing projects that are subject to regulatory agreements relating to rent increases. Such projects are now allowed to increase rents in line with their regulatory agreements.

The proclamation also changes the suspension of Chapter 6E (relating to the state Historic Preservation Division) to allow for construction of temporary housing for those displaced by the fires with the approval of the Historic Preservation Division.

The latest proclamation suspends Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 467-7 to allow operators of state-owned temporary lodging for displaced victims and those assisting with wildfire recovery to continue operating without a real estate license.

It also suspends HRS Sections 37-77 and 662-11 to allow the attorney general to settle claims through the One Ohana Fund without legislative approval.  

“We steadfastly believe that our overall strategy surrounding the One Ohana Fund is sound,” Green said. “We can be deliberate about the use of our financial management tools that give us the capacity to address the relief we are offering to those who lost loved ones or were severely injured and maybe hospitalized because of the fires.”