Report Title:

Ground and Maritime Transportation; Deregulation

Description:

Removes all ground and maritime transportation in the State from regulation by the public utilities commission. Prohibits exclusive taxicab service contract at Honolulu International Airport.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1243

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to ground and maritime transportation.

 

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

SECTION 1. Section 102-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The bidding requirements of subsection (a) shall not apply to concessions or space on public property set aside for the following purposes:

(1) For operation of [ground transportation services and] parking lot operations at airports, except for motor vehicle rental operations under chapter 437D;

(2) For lei vendors;

(3) For airline and aircraft operations;

(4) For automatic teller machines and vending machines, except vending machines located at public schools operated by blind or visually handicapped persons in accordance with section 302A-412;

(5) For operation of concessions set aside without any charge;

(6) For operation of concessions by handicapped or blind persons; except concessions operated in the public schools by blind or visually handicapped persons in accordance with section 302A-412;

(7) For operation of concessions on permits revocable on notice of thirty days or less; provided that no such permits shall be issued for more than a one year period;

(8) For operation of concessions or concession spaces for a beach service association dedicated to the preservation of the Hawaii beachboy tradition, incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in accordance with state law, and whose members are appropriately licensed or certified as required by law;

(9) For operation of concessions at county zoos, botanic gardens, or other county parks which are environmentally, culturally, historically, or operationally unique and are supported, by nonprofit corporations incorporated in accordance with state law solely for purposes of supporting county aims and goals of the zoo, botanic garden, or other county park, and operating under agreement with the appropriate agency solely for such purposes, aims, and goals;

(10) For operations of concessions that furnish goods or services for which there is only one source, as determined by the head of the awarding government agency in a writing that shall be included in the contract file; and

(11) For operation of concession or concession spaces at the convention center under chapter 201B."

SECTION 2. Section 269-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by:

1. Amending the definition of "enforcement officer" to read:

""Enforcement officer" means any person employed and authorized by the commission to investigate any matter on behalf of the commission. [The term also means a motor vehicle safety officer employed and assigned, pursuant to section 271-38, by the department of transportation to enforce sections 271-8, 271-12, 271-13, and 271-29 through assessment of civil penalties as provided in section 271-27(h), (i), and (j).]"

2. Amending the definition of "public utility" to read:

"Public utility" includes every person who may own, control, operate, or manage as owner, lessee, trustee, receiver, or otherwise, whether under a franchise, charter, license, articles of association, or otherwise, any plant or equipment, or any part thereof, directly or indirectly for public use, for the [transportation of passengers or freight, or the conveyance or] transmission of telecommunications messages, or the furnishing of facilities for the transmission of intelligence by electricity by land or water or air within the State, or between points within the State, or for the production, conveyance, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of light, power, heat, cold, water, gas, or oil, or for the storage or warehousing of goods, or the disposal of sewage; provided that the term:

(1) Shall include any person insofar as that person owns or operates a private sewer company or sewer facility;

(2) Shall include telecommunications carrier or telecommunications common carrier;

(3) Shall not include any person insofar as that person owns or operates an aerial transportation enterprise;

[(4) Shall not include persons owning or operating taxicabs, as defined in this section;

(5) Shall not include common carriers transporting only freight on the public highways, unless operating within localities or along routes or between points that the public utilities commission finds to be inadequately serviced without regulation under this chapter;]

[(6)] (4) Shall not include persons engaged in the business of warehousing or storage unless the commission finds that regulation thereof is necessary in the public interest;

[(7) Shall not include:

(A) The business of any carrier by water to the extent that the carrier enters into private contracts for towage, salvage, hauling, or carriage between points within the State and the carriage is not pursuant to either an established schedule or an undertaking to perform carriage services on behalf of the public generally; and

(B) The business of any carrier by water, substantially engaged in interstate or foreign commerce, transporting passengers on luxury cruises between points within the State or on luxury round-trip cruises returning to the point of departure;]

[(8)] (5) Shall not include any person who:

(A) Controls, operates, or manages plants or facilities for the production, transmission, or furnishing of power primarily or entirely from nonfossil fuel sources; and

(B) Provides, sells, or transmits all of that power, except such power as is used in its own internal operations, directly to a public utility for transmission to the public;

[(9)] (6) Shall not include a telecommunications provider only to the extent determined by the commission pursuant to section 269-16.9;

[(10)] (7) Shall not include any person who controls, operates, or manages plants or facilities developed pursuant to chapter 167 for conveying, distributing, and transmitting water for irrigation and such other purposes that shall be held for public use and purpose; and

[(11)] (8) Shall not include any person who owns, controls, operates, or manages plants or facilities for the reclamation of wastewater; provided that:

(A) The services of the facility shall be provided pursuant to a service contract between the person and a state or county agency and at least ten per cent of the wastewater processed is used directly by the State or county which has entered into the service contract;

(B) The primary function of the facility shall be the processing of secondary treated wastewater that has been produced by a municipal wastewater treatment facility that is owned by a state or county agency;

(C) The facility shall not make sales of water to residential customers;

(D) The facility may distribute and sell recycled or reclaimed water to entities not covered by a state or county service contract; provided that, in the absence of regulatory oversight and direct competition, the distribution and sale of recycled or reclaimed water shall be voluntary and its pricing fair and reasonable. For purposes of this [[]subparagraph[]], "recycled water" and "reclaimed water" mean treated wastewater that by design is intended or used for a beneficial purpose; and

(E) The facility shall not be engaged, either directly or indirectly, in the processing of food wastes.

In the event the application of this chapter is ordered by the commission in any case provided in paragraphs [(5), (6), (9), and (10),] (4), (6), and (7), the business of any public utility that presents evidence of bona fide operation on the date of the commencement of the proceedings resulting in the order shall be presumed to be necessary to public convenience and necessity, but any certificate issued under this proviso shall nevertheless be subject to such terms and conditions as the commission may prescribe, as provided in [sections] section 269-16.9 [and 269-20]."

3. Repealing the definition of "public highways".

[""Public highways" has the meaning defined by section 264-1, including both state and county highways, but operation upon rails shall not be deemed transportation on public highways."]

4. Repealing the definition of "taxicab".

[""Taxicab" means and includes:

(1) Any motor vehicle used in the movement of passengers on the public highways under the following circumstances, namely, the passenger hires the vehicle on call or at a fixed stand, with or without baggage for transportation, and controls the vehicle to the passenger's destination; and

(2) Any motor vehicle having seating accommodations for eight or less passengers used in the movement of passengers on the public highways between a terminal, i.e., a fixed stand, in the city of Honolulu, and a terminal in a geographical district outside the limits of the city of Honolulu, and vice versa, without picking up passengers other than at the terminals or fixed stands; provided that passengers may be unloaded at any point between terminals; and provided further that this definition relating to motor vehicles operating between terminals shall pertain only to those motor vehicles whose operators or owners were duly licensed (under section 445-222 and any other applicable provision of law or ordinance) and doing business between such terminals on January 1, 1957."]

SECTION 3. Section 269-23, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§269-23 Liability of initial and delivering nonground or nonmaritime common carrier for loss; limitation of liability; notice and filing of claim. Any nonground or nonmaritime common carrier receiving property for transportation from a point in Hawaii to a point in Hawaii shall issue a receipt or bill of lading therefor, and shall be liable to the lawful holder thereof for any loss, damage, or injury to the property caused by it or by any nonground or nonmaritime common carrier or transportation company to which the property may be delivered or over whose line or lines the property may pass when transported on a through bill of lading, and no contract, receipt, rule, regulation, or other limitation of any character whatsoever shall exempt the nonground or nonmaritime common carrier from the liability imposed; and any such nonground or nonmaritime common carrier so receiving property for transportation or any nonground or nonmaritime common carrier or transportation company delivering the property so received and transported shall be liable to the lawful holder of the receipt or bill of lading or to any party entitled to recover thereon, whether the receipt or bill of lading has been issued or not, for the full actual loss, damage, or injury to such property caused by it or by any nonground or nonmaritime common carrier or transportation company to which the property may be delivered or over whose line or lines the property may pass when transported on a through bill of lading, notwithstanding any limitation of liability or limitation of the amount of recovery or representation or agreement as to value in any receipt or bill of lading, or in any contract, rule, regulation, or in any tariff filed with the public utilities commission; and any such limitation, without respect to the manner or form in which it is sought to be made is declared to be unlawful and void; [provided that if the loss, damage, or injury occurs while the property is in the custody of a carrier by water the liability of the carrier shall be determined by the bill of lading of the carrier by water and by and under the laws and regulations applicable to transportation by water, and the liability of the initial or delivering carrier shall be the same as that of the carrier by water;] provided that the provisions hereof respecting liability for full actual loss, damage, or injury, notwithstanding any limitation of liability or recovery or representation or agreement or release as to value, and declaring any such limitation to be unlawful and void, shall not apply[, first, to baggage carried on passenger trains or boats, or trains or boats carrying passengers; second,] to property, except ordinary livestock, received for transportation concerning which the carrier shall have been or shall be expressly authorized or required by order of the commission to establish and maintain rates dependent upon the value declared in writing by the shipper or agreed upon in writing as the released value of the property, in which case the declaration or agreement shall have no other effect than to limit liability and recovery to an amount not exceeding the value so declared or released, and any tariff schedule which may be filed with the commission pursuant to the order shall contain specific reference thereto and may establish rates varying with the value so declared and agreed upon; and the commission may make such order in cases where rates dependent upon and varying with declared or agreed values would, in its opinion, be just and reasonable under the circumstances and conditions surrounding the transportation; provided further that nothing in this section shall deprive any holder of the receipt or bill of lading of any remedy or right of action which the holder has under the existing law; provided further that it shall be unlawful for any such receiving or delivering nonground or nonmaritime common carrier to provide by rule, contract, regulation, or otherwise a shorter period for the filing of claims than four months, and for the institution of suits than two years, such period for institution of suits to be computed from the day when notice in writing is given by the carrier to the claimant that the carrier has disallowed the claim or any part or parts thereof specified in the notice; and provided further that the liability imposed by this section shall also apply in the case of property reconsigned or diverted in accordance with the applicable tariffs filed as provided by the commission."

SECTION 4. Section 269-33, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:

"(a) There is established in the state treasury a public utilities commission special fund to be administered by the public utilities commission. The proceeds of the fund shall be used by the public utilities commission and the division of consumer advocacy of the department of commerce and consumer affairs for all expenses incurred in the administration of chapters 269[, 271, 271G,] and 486J; provided that the expenditures of the public utilities commission shall be in accordance with legislative appropriations. On a quarterly basis, an amount not exceeding thirty per cent of the proceeds remaining in the fund after the deduction for central service expenses, pursuant to section 36-27, shall be allocated by the public utilities commission to the division of consumer advocacy and deposited in the compliance resolution fund established pursuant to section 26-9(o); provided that all moneys allocated by the public utilities commission from the fund to the division of consumer advocacy shall be in accordance with legislative appropriations.

(b) All moneys appropriated to, received, and collected by the public utilities commission that are not otherwise pledged, obligated, or required by law to be placed in any other special fund or expended for any other purpose shall be deposited into the public utilities commission special fund including, but not limited to, all moneys received and collected by the public utilities commission pursuant to sections 92-21, 269-28, 269-30, [271-27, 271-36, 271G-19,] and 607-5."

SECTION 5. Section 286-207, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§286-207 Exemptions, certain vehicles. This part shall not apply to the following vehicles, if such vehicles are in compliance with safety ordinances and rules of the county in which they operate and other applicable state safety laws and rules:

(1) The type of passenger carrying vehicle known as a "sampan bus" within a radius of twenty miles from the city of Hilo, Hawaii;

(2) Station wagons for the carriage of property;

(3) Trucks, truck-trailers, trailers or other nonpassenger carrying equipment having a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less;

[(4) Taxicabs as described in section 271-5(3)(B);

(5)] (4) Passenger carrying vehicles with a seating capacity of nine or less used for the transportation of employees to and from the jobsite;

[(6)] (5) Passenger carrying vehicles used by employees solely for their own transportation to, from, and during work;

[(7)] (6) Passenger carrying vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or less used in car or van pools for the movement of passengers to and from work;

[(8)] (7) A passenger carrying vehicle used for the transportation, without compensation, of persons for private, recreational or entertainment purposes;

[(9)] (8) A passenger carrying vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less used solely for the transportation, without compensation, of the vehicle owner, the vehicle owner's family or guests;

[(10)] (10) A passenger carrying vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less used for the transportation, without compensation, of persons for the furtherance of their physical or mental rehabilitation or for social welfare activities."

SECTION 6. Section 486J-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§486J-11[]] Powers of the public utilities commission. The public utilities commission shall have the authority and power to take any action or make any determination under this chapter, including but not limited to actions or determinations that affect persons not regulated under [chapters] chapter 269[, 271, and 271G], as the commission deems necessary to carry out its responsibilities or otherwise effectuate chapter 269[, 271, or 271G]."

SECTION 7. Section 269-20, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

["§269-20 Certificates of public convenience and necessity for water carriers. (a) No person which holds itself out to the general public to engage in the transportation by water of passengers or property or any class or classes thereof for compensation, between points in the State of Hawaii, shall operate unless there is in force with respect to such carrier a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the commission authorizing such transportation; provided that this section shall not apply to any carrier by water to the extent that the carrier is excluded from the definition of a public utility under section 269-1(6).

(b) Applications for certificates shall be made in writing under oath to the commission in such form as it requires.

(c) A certificate shall be issued to any qualified applicant therefor, authorizing the whole or any part of the operations covered by the application, if it is found that the applicant is fit, willing, and able properly to perform the service proposed and to conform to the provisions of this chapter and the requirements, rules and regulations of the commission thereunder, and that the proposed service, to the extent authorized by the certificate, is or will be required by the present or future public convenience and necessity; otherwise such application shall be denied. Any certificate issued shall specify the service to be rendered and the routes and ports which the water carrier is to serve and there shall be attached to the exercise of the privileges granted by the certificate, at the time of issuance and from time to time thereafter, such reasonable conditions and limitations as the public convenience and necessity may require.

(d) The commission may at any time suspend, change or revoke such certificate in the manner provided in section 271-19."]

SECTION 8. Chapter 46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§46-    Taxicab services; Honolulu International Airport; no exclusive contract. No county with a population of five hundred thousand or more shall allow any one taxicab company to enter into an exclusive contract for taxicab services serving that county's main airport."

SECTION 9. Chapter 271, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

SECTION 10. Chapter 271G, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

SECTION 11. The department of transportation may enter into a contract with any qualified taxicab company for taxicab services at the Honolulu International Airport; provided that taxicab services at the Honolulu International Airport may not be provided under an exclusive contract to any one taxicab company.

SECTION 12. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 13. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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