A federal appeals court blocked Hawaii from enforcing a climate change tourist tax on cruise passengers, ABC News reported.

As previously reported by Cruise Industry News, the new fee was set to go into effect on January 1, 2026.

The new report said that the tax was temporarily halted on New Year’s Eve as part of a process moved by CLIA and other parties.

Backed by the Trump Administration, the lawsuit claimed that Hawaii’s new tax law violated the U.S. Constitution. The fee also places a financial burden on passengers already subject to substantial fees and taxes, CLIA added in its proceedings.

Included in Act 96, the cruise tax is part of a larger new law passed by the Hawaii State Legislature in May. At the time, Governor Josh Green said that the new tax was aimed at helping Hawaii cope with a warming planet.

As part of the law, cruise guests will be required to pay an 11 percent fee of the prorated cruise fare for the days docked at ports in Hawaii.

In its lawsuit, CLIA noted that the bill authorizes counties to collect an additional 3 percent surcharge, bringing the total to 14 percent of prorated fares.

ABC News added that U.S. District Judge Jill A. Otake upheld the law in the last week of December, leading plaintiffs to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The report added that the U.S. government intervened in the case and also appealed Otake’s ruling. Two 9th Circuit judges later granted both requests for an injunction pending the appeals.

“We remain confident that Act 96 is lawful and will be vindicated when the appeal is heard on the merits,” Toni Schwartz, spokesperson for the Hawaii attorney general’s office, told ABC News in an email.

One of the companies affected by the new tax, Disney Cruise Line, informed guests of the new charge in October.