Report Title:

Government Operations

Description:

Transfers the Land Use Commission and the Office of Planning from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to the Department of Land and Natural Resources. (HB1135 HD1)

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1135

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that over time, the core functions of the department of business, economic development, and tourism have been impacted negatively by the addition of a series of administratively attached agencies. In some instances the mission of the attached agency has not been consistent with these departmental core functions. The legislature further finds that these agencies may be more appropriately attached administratively to other departments to retain their policy independence and autonomy or placed within another department to directly support the core functions of that department.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Transfer the land use commission from the department of business, economic development, and tourism to the department of land and natural resources; and

(2) Transfer the functions of the office of planning from the department of business, economic development, and tourism to the department of land and natural resources.

Appropriate changes to other statutes affecting these agencies are also included in the Act.

SECTION 2. Section 4E-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

§4E-1 State board on geographic names. There shall be in the [office of planning] department of land and natural resources a state board on geographic names, consisting of the following persons or their representatives: the chairperson of the board of land and natural resources, the chairperson of the office of Hawaiian affairs, the chairperson of the Hawaiian homes commission, [the director of the office of planning,] the president of the University of Hawaii, the state land surveyor, and the director of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. The members of the board shall serve without compensation.

Section 26-34 shall not apply to this board."

SECTION 3. Section 6K-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

§6K-6 Responsibilities and duties of the commission. The general administration of the island reserve shall rest with the commission. In carrying out its duties and responsibilities, the commission:

(1) Shall establish criteria, policies, and controls for permissible uses within the island reserve;

(2) Shall approve all contracts for services and rules pertaining to the island reserve;

(3) Shall provide advice to the governor, the department, and other departments and agencies on any matter relating to the island reserve;

(4) Shall provide advice to the [office of planning and the] department of the attorney general on any matter relating to the federal conveyance of Kaho`olawe;

(5) May enter into curator or stewardship agreements with appropriate Hawaiian cultural and spiritual community organizations for the perpetuation of native Hawaiian cultural, religious, and subsistence customs, beliefs, and practices for the purposes stated in section 6K-3;

(6) Shall carry out those powers and duties otherwise conferred upon the board of land and natural resources and the land use commission with regard to dispositions and approvals pertaining to the island reserve. All powers and duties of the board of land and natural resources and the land use commission concerning dispositions and approvals pertaining to the island reserve are transferred to the commission;

(7) Shall carry out those powers and duties concerning the island reserve otherwise conferred upon the county of Maui by chapter 205A. The powers and duties of the county of Maui and its agencies concerning coastal zone dispositions and approvals pertaining to the island reserve are transferred to the commission;

(8) Shall carry out those powers and duties concerning the island reserve otherwise conferred upon the island burial councils and the department with regard to proper treatment of burial sites and human skeletal remains found in the island reserve;

(9) Shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter 91 that are necessary for the purposes of this chapter and shall maintain a record of its proceedings and actions;

(10) May delegate to the executive director or employees of the commission, by formal commission action, such power and authority vested in the commission by this chapter as the commission deems reasonable and proper for the effective administration of this chapter; and

(11) May solicit and accept grants, donations, and contributions for deposit into the Kaho`olawe rehabilitation trust fund to support the purposes of this chapter.″

SECTION 4. Section 26-18, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The following are placed in the department of business, economic development, and tourism for administrative purposes as defined by section 26-35: Aloha Tower development corporation, Hawaii community development authority, high technology development corporation, [land use commission,] natural energy laboratory of Hawaii authority, the housing and community development corporation of Hawaii, and any other boards and commissions as shall be provided by law.

The department of business, economic development, and tourism shall be empowered to establish, modify, or abolish statistical boundaries for cities, towns, or villages in the State and shall publish, as expeditiously as possible, an up-to-date list of cities, towns, and villages after changes to statistical boundaries have been made."

SECTION 5. Section 195-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

§195-6 Natural area reserves system commission. There shall be a natural area reserves system commission, hereinafter called the "commission." The commission shall consist of thirteen members who shall be appointed in the manner and serve for the term set in section 26-34. [Six] Seven of the members of the commission shall be persons possessing scientific qualifications as evidenced by an academic degree in wildlife or marine biology, botany, forestry, ecology, resource management, biogeography, zoology, or geology; one member shall be a person possessing membership in a hiking organization organized in the State; and one member shall be a person possessing membership in a hunting organization organized in the State. The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources, the superintendent of education, [the director of the office of planning,] the chairperson of the board of agriculture, and the president of the University of Hawaii, or their designated representatives, shall serve as ex officio voting members. The governor shall appoint the chairperson from one of the appointed members of the commission. The members shall receive no compensation for their services on the commission but shall be entitled to reimbursement for necessary expenses while attending meetings and while in the discharge of their duties.

The commission shall be a part of the department for administrative purposes as provided in section 26-35.

Any action taken by the commission shall be by a simple majority of its members. Seven members of the commission shall constitute a quorum to do business.

The commission may engage employees necessary to perform its duties, including administrative personnel, as provided by section 26-35.

The commission shall adopt rules guiding its conduct and shall maintain a record of its activities and actions.″

SECTION 6. Section 200D-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) The director of health; the superintendent of education; two representatives of the department of land and natural resources, including one from the division of boating and ocean recreation and one from the aquatic resources division; the commanding officer of the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station; [the director of the office of planning;] and the director of business, economic development, and tourism; or their designated representatives shall serve as ex officio nonvoting members of the council. Additionally, the council may designate representatives of other appropriate agencies as ex officio nonvoting members of the council."

SECTION 7. Section 201-102, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) At the discretion of the director, committee members may include[,] but need not be limited to:

(1) The director of health;

[(2) The director of the office of planning;

(3)] (2) The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources;

[(4)] (3) The comptroller;

[(5)] (4) The chairperson of the public utilities commission;

[(6)] (5) The director of transportation;

[(7)] (6) The county integrated solid waste management coordinators;

[(8)] (7) One representative each from the not-for-profit recycling industry, the for-profit recycling industry, the solid waste collection industry, the recycling processing industry, the recycling brokerage and marketing industry, the shipping industry, and an environmental advocacy group; and

[(9)] (8) An elected official from each county;

or their designated representatives.″

SECTION 8. Section 205-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§205-1 Establishment of the commission. There shall be a state land use commission, hereinafter called the commission. The commission shall consist of nine members. The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources who shall serve as an ex-officio, voting member, and eight public members, who shall hold no other public office and shall be appointed in the manner and serve for the term set forth in section 26-34. One member shall be appointed from each of the counties and the remainder shall be appointed at large. The commission shall elect its chairperson from one of its members. The members shall receive no compensation for their services on the commission, but shall be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. Six affirmative votes shall be necessary for any boundary amendment.

The commission shall be a part of the department of [business, economic development, and tourism] land and natural resources for [administration] administrative purposes, as provided for in section 26-35.

The commission may engage employees necessary to perform its duties, including administrative personnel and an executive officer. The executive officer shall be appointed by the commission and the executive officer's position shall be exempt from civil service. Departments of the state government shall make available to the commission such data, facilities, and personnel as are necessary for it to perform its duties. The commission may receive and utilize gifts and any funds from the federal or other governmental agencies. It shall adopt rules guiding its conduct, maintain a record of its activities and accomplishments, and make recommendations to the governor and to the legislature through the governor."

SECTION 9. Section 205-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (e) to read as follows:

"(e) Any other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, agencies and persons may intervene in the proceedings in accordance with this subsection.

(1) The petitioner, the [office of planning,] department of land and natural resources, and the county planning department shall in every case appear as parties and make recommendations relative to the proposed boundary change.

(2) All departments and agencies of the State and of the county in which the land is situated shall be admitted as parties upon timely application for intervention.

(3) All persons who have some property interest in the land, who lawfully reside on the land, or who otherwise can demonstrate that they will be so directly and immediately affected by the proposed change that their interest in the proceeding is clearly distinguishable from that of the general public shall be admitted as parties upon timely application for intervention.

(4) All other persons may apply to the commission for leave to intervene as parties. Leave to intervene shall be freely granted, provided that the commission or its hearing officer if one is appointed may deny an application to intervene when in the commission's or hearing officer's sound discretion it appears that:

(A) [the] The position of the applicant for intervention concerning the proposed change is substantially the same as the position of a party already admitted to the proceeding; and

(B) [the] The admission of additional parties will render the proceedings inefficient and unmanageable.

A person whose application to intervene is denied may appeal such denial to the circuit court pursuant to section 91-14.

(5) The commission shall pursuant to chapter 91 adopt rules governing the intervention of agencies and persons under this subsection. Such rules shall without limitation establish:

(A) [the] The information to be set forth in any application for intervention;

(B) (time) Time limits within which such applications shall be filed; and

(C) [reasonable] Reasonable filing fees to accompany such applications."

SECTION 10. Section 205-18, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

§205-18 Periodic review of districts. The [office of planning] department of land and natural resources shall undertake a review of the classification and districting of all lands in the State, within five years from December 31, 1985, and every fifth year thereafter. The [office] department, in its five-year boundary review, shall focus its efforts on reviewing the Hawaii state plan, county general plans, and county development and community plans. Upon completion of the five-year boundary review, the [office] department shall submit a report of the findings to the commission. The [office] department may initiate state land use boundary amendments which it deems appropriate to conform to these plans. The [office] department may seek assistance of appropriate state and county agencies and may employ consultants and undertake studies in making this review.″

SECTION 11. Section 205A-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "lead agency" to read:

"″Lead agency″ means the [office of planning;] department of land and natural resources;"

SECTION 12. Section 279A-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

§279A-4 Statewide transportation council; establishment. To assist and advise the state department of transportation in the development of the statewide transportation plan, there is hereby established a statewide transportation council consisting of fourteen members. The members of the council shall be the directors of the state department of transportation, the state department of business, economic development, and tourism, the state department of health, and the state office of environmental quality control, [and the office of planning,] the chairperson of the board of land and natural resources, the chairperson of the board of agriculture, the planning directors of each of the four counties, and the transportation directors of each of the four counties. The members may be represented at council meetings by their designated alternates. The director of the state department of transportation shall submit recommendations to the council for additional ex officio nonvoting members who, upon the majority vote of the council, shall be invited to serve.

The department of transportation shall furnish staff support to the council; such staff may be exempt from chapter 76. The director of transportation shall be the chairperson of the council. All decisions of the council shall be by majority vote unless otherwise provided.″

SECTION 13. Chapter 225M, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

SECTION 14. All rights, powers, functions, and duties of the office of planning and the land use commission are transferred from the department of business, economic development, and tourism to the department of land and natural resources. All officers and employees of the office of planning and the land use commission whose functions are transferred by this Act shall be transferred with their functions and shall continue to perform their regular duties upon transfer, subject to state personnel laws and this Act. No officer or employee of the office of planning and the land use commission having tenure shall suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege as a consequence of this Act.

SECTION 15. All appropriations, records, equipment, machines, files, supplies, contracts, books, papers, documents, maps, computer software and data, authorizations, and other personal property previously made, used, acquired, or held by the office of planning or the land use commission relating to the functions transferred to the department of land and natural resources shall be transferred with the function to which they relate.

SECTION 16. Rules adopted by the office of planning and the land use commission on the effective date of this Act shall remain in force and effect until amended or repealed by the department of land and natural resources.

SECTION 17. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by replacing all references to ″office of planning″ or like references with ″department of land and natural resources″ or like references, and ″director of office of planning″ with ″chairperson of the board of land and natural resources″ or like references, as the context requires.

SECTION 18. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 19. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003, except that transfer of the functions of the office of planning to the department of land and natural resources shall take effect on January 1, 2010.