Report Title:

Real Property; Dangerous Conditions; Duty of Care

 

Description:

Repeals existing law relating to landowners' liability and enacts new law limiting public employees' and public entities' liability for injury caused by a dangerous conditions of public property. Amends the statewide trail and access system law to limit landowners' duty of care and to allow attorney's fees.

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2095

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to Liability.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Chapter

DANGEROUS CONDITIONS OF PUBLIC PROPERTY

PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

§   -1 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

"Dangerous condition" means a condition of property that creates a substantial (as distinguished from a minor, trivial or insignificant) risk of injury when such property or adjacent property is used with due care in a manner in which it is reasonably foreseeable that it will be used.

"Protect against" includes repairing, remedying, or correcting a dangerous condition, providing safeguards against a dangerous condition, or warning of a dangerous condition.

"Property of a public entity" and "public property" mean real or personal property owned or controlled by the public entity, but does not include easements, encroachments, and other property that are located on the property of the public entity but are not owned or controlled by the public entity.

§   -2 Minor risks. A condition is not a dangerous condition within the meaning of this chapter if the trial or appellate court, viewing the evidence most favorably to the plaintiff, determines as a matter of law that the risk created by the condition was of such a minor, trivial, or insignificant nature in view of the surrounding circumstances that no reasonable person would conclude that the condition created a substantial risk of injury when that property or adjacent property was used with due care in a manner in which it was reasonably foreseeable that it would be used.

§   -3 Traffic signals. (a) A condition is not a dangerous condition within the meaning of this chapter merely because of the failure to provide regulatory traffic control signals, stop signs, yield right-of-way signs, speed restriction signs, or distinctive roadway markings as required by law.

(b) Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable under this chapter for an injury caused by the failure to provide traffic or warning signals, signs, markings, or devices as required by law. Nothing in this section exonerates a public entity or public employee from liability for injury proximately caused by this failure if a signal, sign, marking, or device (other than one described in subsection (a)) was necessary to warn of a dangerous condition which endangered the safe movement of traffic and which would not be reasonably apparent to, and would not have been anticipated by, a person exercising due care.

(c) Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for an injury caused by the operation or nonoperation of official traffic control signals when controlled by an emergency vehicle.

§   -4 Accidents and subsequent remedial measures. (a) Except where the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur is applicable, the occurrence of the accident which results in the injury is not in and of itself evidence that public property was in a dangerous condition.

(b) The fact that action was taken after an injury occurred to protect against a condition of public property is not evidence that the public property was in a dangerous condition at the time of the injury.

§   -5 Improvements to public property. (a) Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable under this chapter for an injury caused by the plan, design, or construction of, or an improvement to, public property where the plan or design has been approved in advance of the construction or improvement by the legislative body of the public entity or by some other body or employee exercising discretionary authority to give approval, or where the plan or design is prepared in conformity with standards previously so approved, if the trial or appellate court determines that there is any substantial evidence upon the basis of which:

(1) A reasonable public employee could have adopted the plan or design or the standards therefor; or

(2) A reasonable legislative body or other body or employee could have approved the plan or design or the standards therefor.

(b) Notwithstanding notice that constructed or improved public property may no longer be in conformity with a plan or design or a standard which reasonably could be approved by the legislative body or other body or employee, the immunity provided by this section shall continue for a reasonable period of time sufficient to permit the public entity to obtain funds for and carry out remedial work necessary to allow the public property to be in conformity with a plan or design approved by the legislative body of the public entity or other body or employee, or with a plan or design in conformity with a standard previously approved by the legislative body or other body or employee.

(c) If the public entity is unable to remedy the public property because of practical impossibility or lack of sufficient funds, the immunity provided by this section shall remain so long as the public entity shall reasonably attempt to provide adequate warnings of the existence of the condition not conforming to the approved plan or design or to the approved standard. However, where a person fails to heed the warning or occupies public property despite the warning, this failure or occupation shall not in itself constitute an assumption of the risk of the danger indicated by the warning.

§   -6 Weather conditions; effect on use of highways. Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for an injury caused by the effect on the use of streets and highways of weather conditions. Nothing in this section exonerates a public entity or public employee from liability for injury proximately caused by that effect if it would not be reasonably apparent to, and would not be anticipated by, a person exercising due care. For the purpose of this section, the effect on the use of streets and highways of weather conditions includes the effect of fog, wind, rain, flood, ice, or snow but does not include physical damage to or deterioration of streets and highways resulting from weather conditions.

§   -7 Natural condition on unimproved public property. Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for an injury caused by a natural condition of any unimproved public property, including any natural condition of any lake, stream, bay, river, or beach.

§   -8 Public beaches. Public beaches shall be deemed to be in a natural condition and unimproved notwithstanding the provision or absence of public safety services such as lifeguards, police or sheriff patrols, medical services, fire protection services, beach cleanup services, or signs. This section shall apply only to natural conditions of public property and shall not limit any liability or immunity that may otherwise exist pursuant to this chapter.

§   -9 Land failure of unimproved public property. (a) Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for any damage or injury to property, or for emotional distress unless the plaintiff has suffered substantial physical injury, off the public entity's property caused by land failure of any unimproved public property if the land failure was caused by a natural condition of the unimproved public property.

(b) For the purposes of this section, a natural condition exists and property shall be deemed unimproved notwithstanding the intervention of minor improvements made for the preservation or prudent management of the property in its unimproved state that did not contribute to the land failure.

(c) As used in this section, "land failure" means any movement of land, including a landslide, mudslide, creep, subsidence, and any other gradual or rapid movement of land.

(d) This section shall not benefit any public entity or public employee who had actual notice of probable damage that is likely to occur outside the public property because of land failure and who fails to give a reasonable warning of the danger to the affected property owners. Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for any damage or injury arising from the giving of a warning under this section.

(e) Nothing in this section shall limit the immunity provided by section    -7.

(f) Nothing in this section creates a duty of care or basis of liability for damage or injury to property or of liability for emotional distress.

§   -10 Road maintenance or repair. Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for any injury occurring on account of the grading or the performance of other maintenance or repair on or reconstruction or replacement of any road which has not officially been accepted as a part of the road system under the jurisdiction of the public entity if the grading, maintenance, repair, or reconstruction or replacement is performed with reasonable care and leaves the road in no more dangerous or unsafe condition than it was before the work commenced. No act of grading, maintenance, repair, or reconstruction or replacement within the meaning of this section shall be deemed to give rise to any duty of the public entity to continue any grading, maintenance, repair, or reconstruction or replacement on any road not a part of the road system under the public entity's jurisdiction.

§   -11 Unpaved roads and trails. Unless an injury results from gross negligence on the part of the State as provided in section 198D-7.6, a public entity, public employee, or a grantor of a public easement to a public entity for any of the following purposes, is not liable for an injury caused by a condition of:

(1) Any unpaved road which provides access to fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, riding, including animal and all types of vehicular riding, water sports, recreational or scenic areas and which is not a:

(A) County street or highway; or

(B) State or federal highway;

(2) Any trail used for the above purposes; or

(3) Any paved trail, walkway, path, or sidewalk on an easement of way which has been granted to a public entity, which easement provides access to any unimproved property, so long as the public entity reasonably attempts to provide adequate warnings of the existence of any condition of the paved trail, walkway, path, or sidewalk which constitutes a hazard to health or safety. Warnings required by this paragraph shall only be required where pathways are paved, and this requirement shall not be construed to be a standard of care for any unpaved pathways or roads.

§   -12 Public access programs and public land trusts. (a) The legislature declares that innovative public access programs, such as agreements with public land trusts, conservation easements under chapter 198, and agreements to defend and indemnify entered into pursuant to section 198D-7.5, can provide effective and responsible alternatives to costly public acquisition programs. The legislature therefore declares that it is beneficial to the people of this State to encourage private nonprofit entities such as public land trusts to carry out programs that preserve open space or increase opportunities for the public to enjoy access to and use of natural resources if the programs are consistent with public safety, the protection of the resources, and public and private rights.

(b) For the purposes of sections    -7,    -9,    -11, and    -14, "public entity" includes a public land trust which meets all of the following conditions:

(1) It is a nonprofit organization existing under section 501(c) of the United States Internal Revenue Code;

(2) It has specifically set forth in its articles of incorporation, as among its principal charitable purposes, the conservation of land for public access, agricultural, scientific, historical, cultural, educational, recreational, scenic, or open-space opportunities; and

(3) It has entered into an agreement with the board of land and natural resources on such terms and conditions as are mutually agreeable, requiring the public land trust to hold the lands or, where appropriate, to provide nondiscriminatory public access consistent with the protection and conservation of either coastal or other natural resources, or both. The board shall periodically review the agreement and determine whether the public land trust is in compliance with the terms and conditions. In the event the board determines that the public land trust is not in substantial compliance with the agreement, the board shall cancel the agreement, and sections    -7,    -9,    -11, and    -14 shall no longer apply with regard to that public land trust.

(c) For the purposes of sections    -7,    -9,    -11, and    -14, "public employee" includes an officer, authorized agent, or employee of any public land trust which is a public entity.

§   -13 Submerged lands. Neither the State nor an employee of the State is liable under this chapter for any injury caused by a condition of the unimproved and unoccupied portions of the ungranted tidelands and submerged lands, and the beds of navigable rivers, streams, lakes, bays, estuaries, inlets, and straits, owned by the State.

§   -14 Hazardous recreational activities. (a) Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable to any person who participates in a hazardous recreational activity, including any person who assists the participant, or to any spectator who knew or reasonably should have known that the hazardous recreational activity created a substantial risk of injury to that person and was voluntarily in the place of risk, or having the ability to do so failed to leave, for any damage or injury to property or persons arising out of that hazardous recreational activity.

(b) As used in this section, "hazardous recreational activity" means a recreational activity conducted on the property of a public entity which creates a substantial (as distinguished from a minor, trivial, or insignificant) risk of injury to a participant or a spectator, and includes the following activities:

(1) Water contact activities, except diving, in places where or at a time when lifeguards are not provided and reasonable warning thereof has been given or the injured party should reasonably have known that there was no lifeguard provided at the time;

(2) Any form of diving into water from other than a diving board or diving platform, or at any place or from any structure where diving is prohibited and reasonable warning, thereof, has been given; and

(3) Animal riding, including equestrian competition, archery, bicycle racing or jumping, mountain bicycling, boating, cross-country and downhill skiing, hang gliding, kayaking, motorized vehicle racing, off-road motorcycling or four-wheel driving of any kind, orienteering, pistol and rifle shooting, rock climbing, rocketeering, rodeo, spelunking, sky diving, sport parachuting, paragliding, body contact sports (i.e., sports in which it is reasonably foreseeable that there will be rough bodily contact with one or more participants), surfing, trampolining, tree climbing, tree rope swinging, waterskiing, white water rafting, and windsurfing. For the purposes of this paragraph, "mountain bicycling" does not include riding a bicycle on paved pathways, roadways, or sidewalks.

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a), this section does not limit liability which would otherwise exist for any of the following:

(1) Failure of the public entity or employee to guard or warn of a known dangerous condition or of another hazardous recreational activity known to the public entity or employee that is not reasonably assumed by the participant as inherently a part of the hazardous recreational activity out of which the damage or injury arose;

(2) Damage or injury suffered in any case where permission to participate in the hazardous recreational activity was granted for a specific fee. For the purpose of this paragraph, a "specific fee" does not include a fee or consideration charged for a general purpose such as a general park admission charge, a vehicle entry or parking fee, or an administrative or group use application or permit fee, as distinguished from a specific fee charged for participation in the specific hazardous recreational activity out of which the damage or injury arose;

(3) Injury suffered to the extent proximately caused by the negligent failure of the public entity or public employee to properly construct or maintain in good repair any structure, recreational equipment or machinery, or substantial work of improvement utilized in the hazardous recreational activity out of which the damage or injury arose;

(4) Damage or injury suffered in any case where the public entity or employee recklessly or with gross negligence promoted the participation in or observance of a hazardous recreational activity. For the purposes of this paragraph, promotional literature or a public announcement or advertisement which merely describes the available facilities and services on the property does not in itself constitute a reckless or grossly negligent promotion; or

(5) An act of gross negligence by a public entity or a public employee which is the proximate cause of the injury.

Nothing in this subsection creates a duty of care or basis of liability for personal injury or for damage to personal property.

(d) Nothing in this section shall limit the liability of an independent concessionaire, or any person or organization other than the public entity, whether or not the person or organization has a contractual relationship with the public entity to use the public property, for injuries or damages suffered in any case as a result of the operation of a hazardous recreational activity on public property by the concessionaire, person, or organization.

§   -15 Reservoirs, irrigation systems, and flood control channels. (a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c), neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable under this chapter for an injury caused by:

(1) The condition of a reservoir; or

(2) The condition of canals, conduits, or drains used for an irrigation system or similar distribution of water; or

(3) The condition or use of unlined flood control channels or adjacent groundwater recharge spreading grounds;

if, at the time of the injury, the person injured was using the property for any purpose other than for its intended or permitted use.

(b) Nothing in this section exonerates a public entity or a public employee from liability for injury proximately caused by a dangerous condition of property if all of the following occur:

(1) The injured person was not guilty of a violation of section 708-813, 708-814, or 708-815 in entering on or using the property;

(2) The condition created a substantial and unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm when that property or adjacent property was used with due care in a manner in which it was reasonably foreseeable that it would be used;

(3) The dangerous character of the condition was not reasonably apparent to, and would not have been anticipated by, a mature, reasonable person using the property with due care; and

(4) The public entity or the public employee had actual knowledge of the condition and knew or should have known of its dangerous character a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken measures to protect against the condition.

(c) Nothing in this section exonerates a public entity or a public employee from liability for injury proximately caused by a dangerous condition of property if all of the following occur:

(1) The person injured was less than twelve years of age;

(2) The dangerous condition created a substantial and unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm to children under twelve years of age using the property or adjacent property with due care in a manner in which it was reasonably foreseeable that it would be used;

(3) The person injured, because of the person's immaturity, did not discover the condition or did not appreciate its dangerous character; and

(4) The public entity or the public employee had actual knowledge of the condition and knew or should have known of its dangerous character a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken measures to protect against the condition.


PART II. LIABILITY OF PUBLIC ENTITIES

§   -21 Liability of a public entity. Except as provided by statute, a public entity is liable for injury caused by a dangerous condition of its property if the plaintiff establishes that the property was in a dangerous condition at the time of the injury, that the injury was proximately caused by the dangerous condition, that the dangerous condition created a reasonably forseeable risk of the kind of injury which was incurred, and that either:

(1) A negligent or wrongful act or omission of an employee of the public entity within the scope of that person's employment created the dangerous condition; or

(2) The public entity had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition under section    -22 a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous condition.

§   -22 Actual and constructive notice of dangerous condition. (a) A public entity had actual notice of a dangerous condition within the meaning of section    -21(2) if it had actual knowledge of the existence of the condition and knew or should have known of its dangerous character.

(b) A public entity had constructive notice of a dangerous condition within the meaning of section    -21(2) only if the plaintiff establishes that the condition had existed for such a period of time and was of such an obvious nature that the public entity, in the exercise of due care, should have discovered the condition and its dangerous character. On the issue of due care, admissible evidence includes evidence as to:

(1) Whether the existence of the condition and its dangerous character would have been discovered by an inspection system that was reasonably adequate (considering the practicability and cost of inspection weighed against the likelihood and magnitude of the potential danger to which failure to inspect would give rise) to inform the public entity whether the property was safe for the use or uses for which the public entity used or intended others to use the public property and for uses that the public entity actually knew others were making of the public property or adjacent property; and

(2) Whether the public entity maintained and operated such an inspection system with due care and did not discover the condition.

§   -23 Reasonableness of act or omission. (a) A public entity is not liable under section    -21(1) for injury caused by a condition of its property if the public entity establishes that the act or omission that created the condition was reasonable. The reasonableness of the act or omission that created the condition shall be determined by weighing the probability and gravity of potential injury to persons and property foreseeably exposed to the risk of injury against the practicability and cost of taking alternative action that would not create the risk of injury or of protecting against the risk of injury.

(b) A public entity is not liable under section    -21(2) for injury caused by a dangerous condition of its property if the public entity establishes that the action it took to protect against the risk of injury created by the condition or its failure to take such action was reasonable. The reasonableness of the action or inaction of the public entity shall be determined by taking into consideration the time and opportunity it had to take action and by weighing the probability and gravity of potential injury to persons and property foreseeably exposed to the risk of injury against the practicability and cost of protecting against the risk of injury.


PART III. LIABILITY OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

§   -31 Liability of a public employee. Except as provided in this part, a public employee is not liable for injury caused by a condition of public property where the condition exists because of any act or omission of the employee within the scope of the employee's employment. The liability established by this part is subject to any immunity of the public employee provided by statute and is subject to any defenses that would be available to the public employee if the public employee were a private person.

§   -32 Dangerous condition of public property. An employee of a public entity is liable for injury caused by a dangerous condition of public property if the plaintiff establishes that the property of the public entity was in a dangerous condition at the time of the injury, that the injury was proximately caused by the dangerous condition, that the dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury which was incurred, and that either:

(1) The dangerous condition was directly attributable wholly or in substantial part to a negligent or wrongful act of the employee and the employee had the authority and the funds and other means immediately available to take alternative action which would not have created the dangerous condition; or

(2) The employee had the authority and it was the employee's responsibility to take adequate measures to protect against the dangerous condition at the expense of the public entity and the funds and other means for doing so were immediately available to the employee, and the employee had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition under section -33 a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous condition.

§   -33 Actual and constructive notice of dangerous condition. (a) A public employee had actual notice of a dangerous condition within the meaning of section    -32(2) if the public employee had actual personal knowledge of the existence of the condition and knew or should have known of its dangerous character.

(b) A public employee had constructive notice of a dangerous condition within the meaning of section    -32(2) only if the plaintiff establishes:

(1) That the public employee had the authority and it was that person's responsibility as a public employee to inspect the property of the public entity or to see that inspections were made to determine whether dangerous conditions existed in the public property;

(2) That the funds and other means for making the inspections or for seeing that the inspections were made were immediately available to the public employee; and

(3) That the dangerous condition had existed for such a period of time and was of such an obvious nature that the public employee, in the exercise of the public employee's authority and responsibility with due care, should have discovered the condition and its dangerous character.

§   -34 Reasonableness of act or omission. (a) A public employee is not liable under section    -32(1) for injury caused by a dangerous condition of public property if the public employee establishes that the act or omission that created the condition was reasonable. The reasonableness of the act or omission that created the condition shall be determined by weighing the probability and gravity of potential injury to persons and property foreseeably exposed to the risk of injury against the practicability and cost of taking alternative action that would not create the risk of injury or of protecting against the risk of injury.

(b) A public employee is not liable under section    -32(2) for injury caused by a dangerous condition of public property if the public employee establishes that the action taken to protect against the risk of injury created by the condition or the failure to take such action was reasonable. The reasonableness of the inaction or action shall be determined by taking into consideration the time and opportunity the public employee had to take action and by weighing the probability and gravity of potential injury to persons and property foreseeably exposed to the risk of injury against the practicability and cost of protecting against the risk of injury."

SECTION 2. Chapter 198D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§198D-A No duty of care. (a) An owner of any estate or any other interest in real property, whether possessory or nonpossessory, owes no duty of care to keep the premises safe for entry or use by others for a recreational purpose or to give any warning of hazardous conditions, uses of, structures, or activities on the premises to persons entering for that purpose, except as provided in this section.

(b) An owner of any estate or any other interest in real property, whether possessory or nonpossessory, who gives permission to another for entry or use for a recreational purpose upon the premises, does not thereby:

(1) Extend any assurance that the premises are safe for such purpose;

(2) Constitute the person to whom permission has been granted the legal status of an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed; or

(3) Assume responsibility for or incur liability for any injury to person or property caused by any act of the person to whom permission has been granted except as provided in this section.

(c) This section does not limit the liability which otherwise exists:

(1) For wilful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity;

(2) For injury suffered where permission to enter for a recreational purpose was granted for a consideration other than the consideration, if any, paid to the landowner by the State, or where consideration has been received from others for that purpose; or

(3) To any persons who are expressly invited rather than merely permitted to come upon the premises by the landowner.

(d) Nothing in this section creates a duty of care or ground of liability for injury to person or property.

(e) As used in this section, the term "recreational purpose" includes such activities as fishing, hunting, camping, water sports, hiking, spelunking, sport parachuting, riding, including animal riding, snowmobiling, and all other types of vehicular riding, rock collecting, sightseeing, picnicking, nature study, nature contacting, recreational gardening, gleaning, hang gliding, winter sports, and viewing or enjoying historical, archaeological, scenic, natural, or scientific sites.

§198D-B Attorney's fees. (a) Except as provided in subsection (c), an owner of any estate or interest in real property, whether possessory or nonpossessory, who gives permission to the public for entry on or use of the real property pursuant to an agreement with a public or nonprofit agency for purposes of recreational trail use, and who is a defendant in a civil action brought by, or on behalf of, a person who is allegedly injured or allegedly suffers damages on the real property, may present a claim for reasonable attorney's fees incurred in this civil action if any of the following occurs:

(1) The court has dismissed the civil action upon a demurrer or motion for summary judgment made by the owner or upon its own motion for lack of prosecution;

(2) The action was dismissed by the plaintiff without any payment from the owner; or

(3) The owner prevails in the civil action.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), a public entity, as defined in section    -12(b), that gives permission to the public for entry on or use of real property for a recreational purpose, as defined in section 198D-A(e), and is a defendant in a civil action brought by, or on behalf of, a person who is allegedly injured or allegedly suffers damages on the real property, may present a claim for reasonable attorney's fees incurred in this civil action if any of the following occurs:

(1) The court has dismissed the civil action upon a demurrer or motion for summary judgment made by the public entity or upon its own motion for lack of prosecution;

(2) The action was dismissed by the plaintiff without any payment from the public entity; or

(3) The public entity prevails in the civil action.

(c) An owner of any estate or interest in real property, whether possessory or nonpossessory, or a public entity, as defined in section    -12(b), that gives permission to the public for entry on, or use of, the real property for a recreational purpose, as defined in section 198D-A(e), pursuant to an agreement with a public or nonprofit agency, and is a defendant in a civil action brought by, or on behalf of, a person who seeks to restrict, prevent, or delay public use of that property, may present a claim for reasonable attorney's fees incurred in the civil action if any of the following occurs:

(1) The court has dismissed the civil action upon a demurrer or motion for summary judgment made by the owner or public entity or upon its own motion for lack of prosecution;

(2) The action was dismissed by the plaintiff without any payment from the owner or public entity; or

(3) The owner or public entity prevails in the civil action.

(d) Claims for reasonable attorney's fees under this section shall be made to the board of land and natural resources, which shall allow the claim if the requirements of this section are met. The claim shall be paid from an appropriation to be made for that purpose. Reasonable attorneys' fees, for the purposes of this section, may not exceed an hourly rate greater than the rate charged by the attorney general at the time the award is made, and may not exceed an aggregate amount of $25,000. This subsection shall not apply if an owner or public entity has been provided a legal defense by the State pursuant to any contract or other legal obligation, including an agreement to defend or indemnify made pursuant to section 198D-7.5.

(e) The total of claims allowed by the board of land and natural resources pursuant to this section shall not exceed $200,000 per fiscal year."

SECTION 3. Chapter 520, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

SECTION 4. This Act shall apply only to causes of action based upon acts or omissions occurring on or after its effective date.

SECTION 5. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act, which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

SECTION 6. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

SECTION 7. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2002.

INTRODUCED BY:

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